FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE  LIBRARY 


PHILADELPHIA 


Class.  112 .  .  Book.  IL.V.A.  Accession..! 2..Q..<£?../..... 

FcL  £ 


and  to  holders  of  second  class  stock,  any  work  belonging  to  the  second 
class,  subject  to  the  following  regulations  : 

Section  1. — No  individual  shall  be  permitted  to  have  more  than  two 
looks  out  at  one  time,  without  a  written  permission,  signed  by  at  least 
two  members  of  the  Library  Committe ;  nor  shall  a  book  be  kept  out 
more  than  two  weeks  ;  but  if  no  one  has  applied  for  it,  the  former  bor¬ 
rower  may  renew  the  loan.  Should  any  person  have  applied  for  it,  the 
latter  shall  have  the  preference. 

Section  2. — A  fine  of  ten  cents  per  week  shall  be  exacted  for  the 
detention  of  a  book  beyond  the  limited  time  ;  and  if  a  book  be  not  re¬ 
turned  within  three  months  it  shall  be  deemed  lost,  and  the  borrower 
shall,  in  addition  to  his  fines,  forfeit  its  value. 

Section  3. — Should  any  book  be  returned  injured,  the  borrower  shall 
pay  for  the  injury,  or  replace  the  book,  as  the  Library  Committee  may 
direct ;  and  if  one  or  more  books,  belonging  to  a  set  or  sets,  be  lost,  the 
borrower  shall  replace  them  or  make  full  restitution. 

Article  VII. — Any  person  removing  from  the  Hall,  without  permis¬ 
sion  from  the  proper  authorities,  any  book,  newspaper  or  other  property 
in  charge  of  the  Library  Committee,  shall  be  reported  to  the  Committee, 
who  may  inflict  any  fine  not  exceeding  twenty-five  dollars. 

Article  VIII. — No  member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock,  whose 
annual  contribution  for  the  current  j^ear  shall  be  unpaid  or  who  is  in 
arrears  for  fines,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  the  Library  or 
Reading  Room. 

Article  IX. — If  any  member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock,  shall 
refuse  or  neglect  to  comply  with  the  foregoing  rules,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Secretary  to  report  him  to  the  Committee  on  the  Library. 

Article  X. — Any  Member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock,  detected 
in  mutilating  the  newspapers,  pamphlets  or  books  belonging  to  the  Insti¬ 
tute  shall  be  deprived  of  his  right  of  membership,  and  the  name  of  the 
offender  shall  be  made  public. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/negativeprintorpOOtowl_O 


the 


NEGATIVE  AND  PRINT; 

*  .4 

OR, 

The  Photographer’s  Guide, 

IN  THE 


GALLERY  AN  D  IN  THE  FIELD, 


BEING  A 


TEXT-BOOK  FOR  THE  OPERATOR  AND  AMATEUR, 


Containing  Brief  and  Concise  Instructions  for  the  Preparation  of  the  Differ¬ 
ent  Bands  of  Photographs  now  in  Vogue. 


SUCH  AS  THE 

Ordinary  Negative  for  Contact  Printing,  the  Solar  Negative, 
and  the  Negative  for  the  Copying  Camera ;  Printing  on 
Albumen  Paper ;  Vignette  Printing ;  Printing  Posi¬ 
tives  on  Opal  or  Plain  Glass ;  the  Ambrotype,  Fer¬ 
rotype,  Melainotype,  etc. ;  Stereographic  Print¬ 
ing  ;  the  Dry  Process  ;  the  Construction  of 
the  Glass-House ;  the  Camera  and  the 
Lens  ;  and  the  Treatment  of  the 
Gold  and  Silver  Residues. 

BY 


JOHN  TOWLER,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Chemistry,  Natural  Philosophy,  and  Mathematics  in  Hobart 
College;  Author  of  “The  Silver  Sunbeam,”  “The 
Porcelain  Picture,”  Etc. 


Second  Edition. 


NEW- YORK: 

Joseph  H.  Ladd,  Publisher,  No.  26  Cedar  Street 
1870. 


London  :  Trubneb  &  Co. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 
JOSEPH  H.  LADD, 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New-York. 


i 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Preparation  of  the  Glass  Plate  for  the  Reception  of  the  Col¬ 
lodion  Film — Solutions  for  Cleaning  Glass  Plates — Chro¬ 
mic  Acid  Bath — Albumen  in  Stock  Solution,  and  Diluted 
for  the  Substratum — To  Albumenize  the  cleaned  Plates,  13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Preparation  of  the  Collodion,  and  the  Mode  of  Coating  Albu- 
menized  Plates  with  Collodion — To  Prepare  Pyroxylins 
by  the  two  Methods — Preparation  of  Plain  Collodion — 
Preparation  of  Bromo-Iodized  Collodion — Preparation  of 
Iodized  Collodion — Vials  for  Collodion  —  Pneumatic 
Holders, . .  .  .  .10 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Nitrate  of  Silver  Bath,  its  Preparation,  Troubles,  and 
Renovation — Neutralizing  the  Bath  with  Carbonate  of 
Soda ;  with  Oxide  of  Silver — Boiling  the  Bath — Distilling 
oft  the  Ether  and  Alcohol — Decomposition  of  the  Nitrate 
of  Silver  in  an  Old  Bath, . 29 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Sky-Light,  Side-Light,  Screens,  and  Accessories  for  Po¬ 
sing  the  Model — Theoretic  Views  about  Lighting — Practi¬ 
cal  Construction  of  a  Photographic  Glass-House,  .  .  38 

CHAPTER  V. 

Lenses  and  Cameras — The  Use  of  Stops  or  Diaphragms — 
Spherical  Aberration ;  Chromatic  Aberration — their  Cor¬ 
rections — Foreign  Lenses — American  Lenses — To  Make 
the  Actinic  Focus  and  the  Luminous  Focus  Coincident — 

To  Focus, . 47 


306  / 


X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Dark-Room  —  Development— Non-Actinic  Room  — 
Transparent  Dish  for  Holding  the  Plate  during  De¬ 
velopment,  . 58 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Developers — Intensifies — Theoretic  Views  of  the  Develop¬ 
ment — Developer — Art  of  Development — Benefit  of  the 
Albumen  Substratum — Fixing  Solution — Intensification 
and  Toning  of  the  Negative, . 62 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

To  Varnish  Negatives — To  Prepare  Negatives  for  the  Solar 
Camera  and  for  Copying  with  a  Camera — Collodion  for 
the  Solar  Camera  Negative — Method  for  Collecting  the 
Silver  from  the  Wash  Water,  etc. — Fixing  Solution — Py- 
rogallic  Acid  Developer — Collo-Protosulphate  of  Iron 
Developer,  . . 72 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Print,  how  to  Make  It — Preparation  of  the  Paper — Sen¬ 
sitizing  of  Albumen  Paper — Fuming  of  Sensitized  Paper 
— The  Printing  Operation — To  Prepare  Terchloride  of 
Gold — Preparation  of  the  Toning  Bath — Fixing  Solution 
for  Prints — Construction  of  the  Washing-Tank — The 
Drying-Frame — Mounting  of  Prints,  .  .  .  .82 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Negative  by  the  Dry  Process — The  Dry  Tannin  Process 
— Acid  Development — Alkaline  Development — Tannin 
Preservative — Time  of  Exposure, . 100 

CHAPTER  XI. 

To  Prepare  Transparent  Positives — Positive  Printing  on 
Glass  by  Means  of  the  Camera — To  Prepare  Transparent 
Positives  by  Contact  Printing— Varnish  for  Transparent 
Positives — To  Prepare  Dry  Plates  by  Gordon’s  Process — 

To  Prepare  Transparent  Stereographs,  .  .  .  .107 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


CHAPTER  XII. 

To  Prepare  Opal  or  Porcelain  Pictures  by  the  Wet  Process — 

By  the  Collodio-Chloride  Process — To  Print  Opal  Pic¬ 
tures  by  Development, . 118 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

To  Prepare  Ferrotypes  or  Melainotypes  and  Ambrotypes — 
Development  of  an  Ambrotype — Developers  for  the  Me- 
lainotype  or  Ferrotype — Black  Varnish  for  Ambrotypes,  125 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Solar  Camera  and  Solar  Enlargements — Direct  Solar 
Printing — Printing  by  Continuation  or  Development — 
Formulas  for  Printing  by  Development,  .  .  .129 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Vignette  Printing — Various  Modes  of  Vignette  Printing,  .  137 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Magic  Print,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .142 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

What  to  do  with  the  Silver  and  Gold  Residues — To  Reduce 
Chloride  of  Silver  by  the  Wet  or  Galvanic  Process  to  Pure 
Silver — To  Reduce  the  Chloride  or  Oxide  of  Silver  by 
Fire — To  Reduce  the  Gold  Residues,  ....  144 

CHAPTER  XVIH. 

Landscape  Photography — Tents  for  Landscape  Photograyhy,  148 


THE 


PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PREPARATION  OP  THE  GLASS  PLATES  FOR  THE  RECEPTION  OF 
THE  COLLODION  FILM. 

It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  assert,  that  the  finest 
and  clearest  plate  glass  is  the  best  adapted  for  photo¬ 
graphic  purposes,  the  only  objection  is  the  expense. 
If  the  practical  photographer  lays  in  a  stock  of  glass 
in  large  plates,  it  becomes  necessary  to  construct  a 
table  for  the  special  purpose  of  cutting  up  the  large 
plates  of  glass  into  the  sizes  required.  Any  ordinary 
table  about  four  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide  will  be 
suitable  for  this  purpose.  Let  the  upper  surface  be 
planed  perfectly  level  and  smooth,  and  afterwards 
covered  with  green  baize.  Along  two  sides  and  one 
end  a  slip  of  hard  wood  is  fixed  upon  the  baize  ;  this 
slip  is  one  inch  wide  and  about  one-sixteenth  of  an 
inch  in  thickness  ;  that  is,  slightly  thinner  than  any 
glass  plate  that  may  be  required  to  be  cut.  These 
slips  are  graduated  into  inches  and  fractional  parts  of 
an  inch  along  the  two  sides,  beginning  at  the  angle  in 
each  case  and  proceeding  to  the  left.  A  flat  rule  is 
next  required,  about  three  feet  and  a  half  in  length, 
two  inches  wide,  and  half  an  inch  thick ;  it  must  be  of 
1 


14 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


hard  wood,  and  perfectly  straight  along  the  edges. 
Finally,  a  glazier’s  diamond  is  the  next  requisite.  The 
operator  must  go  to  a  glazier,  if  he  does  not  know  how 
to  use  the  diamond.  He  will  learn  more  in  five  min¬ 
utes  in  this  respect  than  we  could  impart  to  him  by  a 
lengthy  description.  The  cut  of  a  diamond  on  glass, 
when  correctly  made,  is  like  the  cut  of  a  sharp  knife 
when  the  edge  of  the  blade  is  drawn  along  the  surface 
of  a  piece  of  wood;  it  is  a  wedge-like  incision  totally 
distinct  from  a  scratch.  When  the  cut  is  made,  the 
next  thing  is  to  separate  the  two  parts  ;  this  is  effected 
by  partly  bending  and  partly  pulling  the  two  pieces 
assunder,  beginning  at  one  side  and  proceeding  gradu¬ 
ally,  though  quickly  onwards,  to  the  other  side.  Nat¬ 
urally  the  incision  made  by  the  diamond  must  be 
complete  to  the  edge,  otherwise  the  fracture  will  not 
easily  commence;  and  if  the  incision  does  not  reach 
the  opposite  side,  the  fracture  may  deviate  from  a 
straight  line  at  the  part  where  the  diamond  cut  is 
defective. 

The  operator  has  to  find  out  in  what  position  his 
diamond  makes  a  cut,  and  not  a  scratch,  and  then  he 
can  ever  afterwards  fix  it  in  this  position. 

The  glass  cutting  operation  is  performed  on  and 
near  the  right  end  of  the  table;  in  consequence  of 
this,  the  left  end  is  comparatively  free  and  may  be  set 
aside  to  receive  the  vice,  etc.,  for  polishing  the  plates 
with  buckskin;  whilst  the  drawer  on  the  side  will  be 
a  suitable  receptacle  for  the  diamond,  files,  buffers, 
buckskin,  silk  and  linen  cloths,  and  whatever  else  may 
be  needed  in  this  department.  A  certain  portion  of 
the  drawer  may  be  divided  off  into  compartments  for 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


15 


the  reception  of  the  different  sized  plates  used,  as,  for 
instance,  for  card-pictures,  cabinet-pictures,  etc. 

The  plates  being  now  in  readiness  for  the  next  step, 
the  sharp  edges  are  all  abraded  by  means  of  a  file  kept 
for  this  purpose.  "Whilst  performing  this  work,  the 
back  of  the  operator  is  turned  towards  the  table,  in 
order  that  the  fine  particles  of  abraded  glass  may  fall 
upon  the  floor  and  not  upon  the  green  baize  on  the 
table. 

The  next  operation  is  to  ascertain  by  actual  trial 
that  each  abraded  plate  will  fit  in  the  shield  of  the 
plateholder ;  for  it  is  a  very  vexatious  trouble  to  find, 
after  the  plate  has  been  covered,  with  collodion  and 
sensitized,  that  it  is  too  large  for  the  holder.  After 
each  trial,  and  when  found  correct  in  size,  the  plate  is 
put  away  in  its  special  receptacle  nntil  required. 

Whether  the  plates  have  been  used  before,  or  not,  we 
recommend  that  they  be  placed  in  a  bath  of  nitric  acid 
and  water  of  the  following  strength : 

Nitric  acid  -  -  -  -  -2  ounces. 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  2  pints. 

They  may  remain  in  this  bath  for  six  or  eight  hours; 
by  this  steeping  the  old  films  of  varnish  and  collodion 
are  easily  separated,  whilst  with  fresh  plates  the  sur¬ 
faces  become  thoroughly  cleaned  from  adhering  and 
extraneous  substances.  Instead  of  the  preceding  bath 
the  following  is  also  highly  to  be  recommended: 

CAREY  LEA’S  BATH. 

Sulphuric  acid  -  2  ounces. 

Bichromate  of  potash  -  -  -  2  “ 

Water  ------  2  pints. 


16 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


The  result  is  about  the  same  whichever  bath  is 
used. 

The  adhering  films  of  varnish,  collodion,  and  albu¬ 
men  are  likewise  easily  removed  by  immersing  the 
plates  in  cold  water  and  raising  the  latter  to  the  boil¬ 
ing  temperature.  This  is  the  least  expensive  method 
but  not  always  the  most  convenient. 

After  the  plates  have  thus  received  their  first  clean¬ 
ing,  or  the  first  preparation  preparatory  to  washing, 
each  one  is  taken  and  placed  beneath  the  tap  and  sub¬ 
mitted  to  a  thorough  washing  with  a  clean  sponge  or 
the  fingers;  the  stream  of  water  is  finally  allowed  to 
play  upon  either  side  in  succession,  and  then  the  plate 
is  ready  to  receive  a  coating  of  albumen  upon  one  side. 

The  best  and  easiest  mode  of  preparing  the  albumen 
solution  in  stock  is  probably  the  one  lately  published  by 
Mr.  Ackland  in  his  modified  Fothergill  process.  The 
author  says  it  may  be  preserved  in  good  condition  for 
years  if  kept  closely  corked. 

“  Separate  the  yolks  from  the  whites  of  any  number 
of  eggs,  and  to  every  eight  ounces  of  albumen  thus 
obtained  add  twenty  drops  of  glacial  acetic  acid  pre¬ 
viously  diluted  with  one  ounce  of  water;  stir  these  to¬ 
gether  with  a  glass  rod  until  intimately  mixed,  which 
occupies  about  one  minute;  then,  after  resting  one 
hour,  strain  through  coarse  muslin,  and  to  the  strained 
liquid  add  half  a  drachm  of  the  strongest  liquor  am- 
monise;  then  preserve  in  carefully  corked  bottles.” 

An  ounce  of  this  solution  diluted  with  five  ounces 
of  water  forms  a  liquid  which  is  suitable  for  the  sub¬ 
stratum  on  glass  surfaces.  Pour  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  this  solution  upon  the  bottom  of  a  clean  fiat  porce- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


17 


lain  dish  so  as  just  to  cover  two  slips  of  glass  placed 
along  each  end  of  the  dish  when  lying  fiat,  and  remove 
all  bubbles  with  a  small  piece  of  paper. 

Now  take  the  plate  of  glass,  which  has  just  been 
thoroughly  washed,  and  resting  one  end  upon  the  slip 
of  glass  at  the  bottom  of  the  dish,  let  the  plate  gradu¬ 
ally  fall  upon  the  surface  of  the  albumen  until  the 
other  end  rests  upon  the  second  slip  of  glass.  A  silver 
hook  will  be  found  very  convenient  for  lowering  and 
raising  the  plate.  Now  raise  the  end,  lift  the  plate  up 
and  examine  its  surface.  The  difficulty  in  this  opera¬ 
tion  consists  in  getting  a  clean  surface  free  from  all 
sort  of  particles.  It  frequently  happens  that  such 
particles  are  met  with  on  the  first  film  or  two.  In  this 
case,  take  the  plate  to  the  tap  and  wash  off  the  albu¬ 
men  thoroughly  and  begin  the  operation  over  again. 
As  soon  as  the  film  is  quite  uniform  and  without  flaw, 
the  plate  is  allowed  to  drain  for  a  moment  and  then 
put  away  on  the  rack  to  dry  in  a  warm  place  where 
there  is  no  current  of  air  to  produce  dust. 

The  drying  racks  referred  to  are  made  of  strips  of 
corrugated  iron;  they  are  indispensable  in  the  labora¬ 
tory,  and  can  be  had  of  any  of  our  photographic  deal¬ 
ers.  Several  of  them  will  be  needed  where  work  is 
done  systematically  and  with  care. 

The  application  of  this  substratum  of  albumen  saves 
an  immense  quantity  of  labor  in  cleaning  and  polish¬ 
ing  the  glass  surfaces  by  the  old  method  with  rotten 
stone  and  dilute  alcohol;  but  this  saving  of  labor  is 
but  a  small  part  of  the  advantage  gained.  With  the 
albumenous  substratum,  specks,  stains,  silver  reductions 
on  and  under  the  collodion  film  will  seldom  or  ever 


18 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


occur;  and  we  are  not  cognizant  of  a  single  instance 
where  the  collodion  film  slided  off  the  plate  when  the 
albumen  was  beneath. 

The  film  soon  dries  and  is  then  indistinguishable 
from  the  glass  surface  as  far  as  appearance  goes;  but 
the  surface  covered  with  this  film  can  easily  be  distin¬ 
guished  in  case  the  plates  have  been  misplaced.  Glass 
itself  is  hygroscopic  and  retains  the  breath  for  some 
time,  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  the  breath  is  scarcely 
retained  a  moment  on  the  side  covered  with  the 
albumen. 

In  large  galleries  this  operation  fills  up  idle  time; 
and  in  this  way  a  large  stock  of  prepared  plates  is  al¬ 
ways  on  hand  and  ready  at  a  moment’s  notice  for  the 
next  operation.  But  this  brings  us  to  the  second 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  COLLODION  ;  AND  THE  MODE  OF  COATING 
THE  ALBUMENIZED  PLATES  WITH  COLLODION. 

Collodion,  for  photographic  purposes,  consists  of  a 
solution  of  pyroxyline,  or  gun-cotton  in  a  mixture  of 
ether  and  alcohol,  to  which  are  added  a  certain  quan¬ 
tity  of  soluble  iodides  and  bromides,  or  of  either  alone 
according  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  intended.  It 
is  not  advisable  that  the  operator  should  manufacture 
his  own  gun-cotton ;  for  he  can  get  it  better  and 
cheaper  from  the  dealers,  and  especially  from  the 
chemists  who  devote  their  whole  and  sole  attention  to 
its  preparation.  Nevertheless,  we  will  give  our  read¬ 
ers  the  formulas  for  the  preparation  of  pyroxyline. 

There  are  two  distinct  methods  of  making  gun¬ 
cotton;  the  former  is  by  means  of  a  mixture  of  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  and  nitrate  of  potash;  and  the  latter  of  a 
mixture  of  sulphuric  and  of  nitric  acid.  Cotton  is  im¬ 
mersed  in  either  of  these  solutions  and  after  remain¬ 
ing  a  short  time  it  is  taken  out,  washed,  and  dried. 
Apparently  it  has  undergone  no  change ;  but  by 
weighing  the  quantity  of  cotton  before  and  after  the 
operation  we  shall  find  that,  after  this  treatment,  the 
weight  has  been  increased.  Furthermore,  common 
cotton  is  insoluble  in  ether  and  alcohol;  whilst  gun¬ 
cotton  or  pyroxyline  is  quite  soluble  in  this  mixture. 
Before  treatment,  too,  with  the  mixed  acids  cotton 
will  burn,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  not  an  explosive  ingre- 


20 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


dient,  as  it  becomes  after  impregnation  with  one  of 
the  compounds,  oxygen  and  nitrogen  arising  from  the 
decomposition  of  nitric  acid. 

FIRST  METHOD  OF  PREPARING  PYROXYLINE. 

Weigh  out,  in  the  first  place,  twelve  ounces  of  pure 
nitrate  of  potash,  pulverize  it  and  dry  it  thoroughly 
before  the  fire;  weigh  also  twenty-four  ounces  of  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  such  as  is  found  in  commerce;  further¬ 
more,  weigh  out  six  drachms  of  clean  and  well-carded 
cotton.  If  the  specific  gravity  of  the  sulpuric  acid  is 
1.84,  one  ounce  of  water  is  required;  if  it  is  as  low  as 
1.836,  no  water  is  required;  and  if  it  is  higher  than 
1.84,  two  ounces  of  water  may  be  measured  out  and 
kept  in  readiness.  Separate  the  cotton  into  small 
tufts,  and  place  them  also  in  readiness. 

Having  next  provided  a  large  porcelain  evaporating 
dish,  fill  it  with  hot  water  and  let  it  remain  until  the 
vessel  is  quite  warm  on  the  outside.  Pour  the  water 
out  and  wipe  the  dish.  Now  put  in  the  nitrate  of 
potash,  then  the  water  and  stir  the  mixture  about  for 
a  few  seconds.  The  sulphuric  acid  is  next  added  and 
intimately  mixed.  Finally,  the  cotton  is  immersed 
with  rapidity,  one  tuft  at  a  time,  and  pushed  quite  be¬ 
neath  the  surface  of  the  mixture  and  so  that  every  part 
may  come  in  contact  with  the  acid  and  salt.  Work 
the  cotton  about,  by  means  of  two  glass  rods,  for 
about  four  or  five  minutes,  after  the  last  tuft  has 
been  immersed;  at  the  expiration  of  this  time  the  cot¬ 
ton  is  taken  out  and  thrown  into  a  large  pail  of  water, 
where  it  is  well  stirred  about  by  means  of  the  glass 
rods  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  major  part  of  the  acid. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


21 


It  is  now  immersed  in  a  stream  of  running  water,  dis¬ 
integrated  with  the  fingers,  and  washed  for  some  time 
until  all  acidity  has  been  removed.  If  a  stream  of 
water  is  not  at  hand,  the  washing  operation  is  per¬ 
formed  in  several  changes  of  fresh  water;  and  finally, 
the  pyroxyline,  after  a  thorough  wringing,  is  placed  in 
a  vessel  of  water,  made  alkaline  with  a  few  drops  of 
ammonia.  Separate  the  pyroxyline  into  small  tufts  in 
order  that  every  part  may  come  in  contact  with  the 
alkali.  After  remaining  in  this  water  for  several  hours, 
test  the  liquid  with  blue  litmus  paper;  if  the  latter  is 
not  changed  in  an  hour’s  time,  it  may  be  concluded 
that  the  acid  has  been  entirely  removed. 

But  now  the  pyroxyline  has  to  be  again  washed  in 
several  changes  of  water  in  order  to  remove  every 
trace  of  the  alkali.  This  is  a  tedious  operation,  and 
can  easily  be  dispensed  with  where  there  is  a  regular 
jet  of  water  in  the  first  instance  to  remove  the 
acidity. 

"Wring  the  pyroxyline,  and  then  separate  the  matted 
tufts  into  thin  layers,  which  may  be  dried  in  the  sun 
or  on  a  water  bath  maintained  at  a  moderate  tem¬ 
perature. 

The  weight  of  the  pyroxyline  will  now  be  about 
eight  drachms. 

SECOND  METHOD  OF  PREPARING  PYROXYLINE,  BY  A  MIXTURE  OF 
NITRIC  AND  OF  SULPHURIC  ACID. 

Make  use,  as  before,  of  the  large,  glazed  earthen¬ 
ware  evaporating  dish,  which  is  first  made  warm  by 
floating  it  on  hot  water;  then  pour  into  it  the  follow¬ 
ing  acids: 


1* 


22 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


Nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.37  -  6  fluid  ounces. 

Sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.84  -  12  “ 

Stir  the  mixture  and  ascertain  the  temperature  by 
means  of  a  thermometer.  When  the  thermometer  has 
sunk  as  low  as  150°  Fahr.,  immerse  six  drachms  of 
well-carded  cotton,  previously  separated  into  small 
tufts  as  before.  See  that  every  tuft  is  thoroughly 
under  the  surface;  now  cover  up  the  dish  for  ten 
minutes.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  the  cotton  is 
removed  by  means  of  the  two  glass  rods;  the  excess  of 
acid  is  well  pressed  out,  and  then  the  pyroxyline  is 
plunged  into  a  large  bucket  of  water,  and  treated  in 
the  same  way  as  before  described  in  regard  to  pyroxy¬ 
line  when  prepared  with  nitrate  of  potassa,  etc. 

Ordinary  nitric  acid  has  the  specific  gravity  1.37, 
but  it  is  well  always  to  test  the  strength  before  com¬ 
mencing,  because  if  it  be  stronger,  the  relative  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  two  acids  will  be  different. 

Take  the  following  as  examples : 

No.  1. 

Nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.42  -  9  fluid  ounces. 

Sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.84  -  9  “ 

Cotton  -  6  drachms. 

No.  2. 

Nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.40  -  8  fluid  ounces. 

Sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1.84  -  16  “ 

Water  -----  1  “ 

Cotton  -  6  drachms. 

PREPARATION  OF  PLAIN  COLLODION. 

The  pyroxyline  when  thoroughly  washed  and  dried 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


23 


may  be  preserved  in  pasteboard  boxes  for  an  indefi¬ 
nite  time.  In  order  to  make  collodion  of  it,  it  bas  to 
be  dissolved.  It  is  well  to  keep  a  quantity  of  tbe  dis¬ 
solved  pyroxyline  in  stock,  always  ready  for  mixture 
with  tbe  sensitizing  solution.  Tbis  stock  solution  is 
prepared  as  follows: 

Sulphuric  etber  -  -  -  2  quarts. 

Alcohol  -  -  -  -  -  1  quart. 

Pyroxyline  -  -  -  -  12  drachms. 

Tbe  pyroxyline  soon  dissolves  in  tbe  above  mixture, 
which  is  well  shaken  and  then  put  aside  in  the  cellar 
to  settle  and  ripen.  If  the  pyroxyline  is  pure  and  in 
good  condition,  there  will  not  be  much  sediment. 
Whenever  required  for  use,  the  proper  quantity  is 
decanted  from  the  upper  and  clear  portion  at  the  top 
by  means  of  a  syphon  or  otherwise.  This  plain  collo¬ 
dion  has  considerable  consistence  and  may  be  diluted 
with  alcohol  contained  in  the  iodizing  solution. 

PREPARATION  OF  BROMO-IODIZED  COLLODION. 

It  is  better  to  keep  in  stock  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
iodizing  solution,  by  means  of  which  a  few  ounces  of 
bromo-iodized  collodion  may  be  readily  prepared. 
Below  will  be  found  three  different  formulas  for  these 
stock  solutions : 


Formula  No.  1. 


Landscape  Photography. 


Iodide  of  ammonium 
Bromide  of  cadmium 
Alcohol 


144  grains. 


120  “ 

12  ounces. 


24 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


Formula  No.  2. 


Portrait  Photography. 

Iodide  of  cadmium  -  182  grains. 

Bromide  of  ammonium  -  96  “ 

Alcohol  -  12  “ 

Formula  No.  3. 

Landscapes  and  Portraits. 


Iodide  of  cadmium  - 
Iodide  of  ammonium 
Bromide  of  ammonium  - 
Alcohol  - 


108  grains. 
108  “ 

48  “ 

12  ounces. 


Formula  No.  4. 


This  formula  contains  no  bromide. 


Iodide  of  ammonium 
Iodide  of  cadmium  - 
Chloride  of  magnesium 
Alcohol  - 


144  grains. 
96  “ 

96  “ 

12  ounces. 


These  stock  solutions  have  to  be  kept  in  a  cool  dark 
place,  together  with  the  plain  collodion;  the  cellar  is  a 
very  suitable  place.  They  remain  in  their  present 
condition  unchanged  for  an  indefinite  time. 


PREPARATION  OF  IODIZED  COLLODION. 

Plain  collodion  -  3  ounces. 

Iodizing  solution  -  1  ounce. 

The  first  and  second  formulas  contain  five  grains  and 
a  half  of  the  mixed  bromo-iodides  in  each  ounce  of 
solution;  whilst  the  latter  contains  six  grains  to  each 
ounce.  The  proportions  of  the  salts  in  the  two  first 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


25 


solutions  are  nearly  those  of  their  chemical  equiva¬ 
lents. 

The  quantity  of  pyroxyline  to  each  ounce  of  collo¬ 
dion,  diluted  as  indicated  by  the  alcohol  in  the  bromo- 
iodizing  solution,  is  six  grains  to  the  ounce.  More  or 
less  can  be  added  as  circumstances  require.  A  more 
consistent  collodion  may  be  used  for  very  small  plates; 
whilst  a  thinner  collodion  may  be  found  necessary  for 
large  plates;  that  is,  for  all  sizes  above  the  four-fourth. 

If  the  collodion  is  not  quite  clear  and  free  from  small 
floating  particles,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  filter 
the  solution  before  it  can  be  used  for  coating  the  al- 
bumenized  plates.  Glass  filters  are  manufactured  for 
this  special  purpose,  which  allow  the  filtration  to  pro¬ 
ceed  without  exposing  the  collodion  to  the  atmosphere. 
The  glass  tube  with  a  small  aperture  at  the  closed  end 
is  intended  to  furnish  a  passage  for  air  from  the  re¬ 
ceiver  for  a  corresponding  quantity  of  collodion  that 
has  filtered  through  the  cotton,  that  surrounds  it  at  the 
bottom,  and  that  drops  into  the  receiver.  We  prefer 
drawing  the  end  of  the  glass  tube  into  a  capillary  ter¬ 
mination  of  half  or  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long; 
this  mode  of  construction  succeeds  in  preventing  the 
rising  of  the  collodion  up  the  tube  instead  of  passing 
into  the  receiver,  and  of  thus  obstructing  the  filtration. 
These  glass  filters  are  very  reliable  and  almost  indis¬ 
pensable,  if  you  aim  at  perfect  productions. 

In  addition  to  the  glass  filters,  collodion  vials  are 
kept  for  sale.  They  are  constructed  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  prevent  bubbles  whilst  the  collodion  is  being 
poured  out  upon  the  plate.  They  are  arranged,  too,  so 
as  to  allow  all  particles  and  specks  of  dry  collodion  to 


26 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


accumulate  around  the  neck  and  not  to  fall  upon  the 
collodion  film.  These  cometless  vials,  as  they  are  some¬ 
times  called,  are  also  very  useful  and  reliable  in  the 
photographic  laboratory. 

Before  the  albumenized  plate  is  coated  with  collo¬ 
dion,  ascertain  in  the  first  place  which  side  is  covered 
with  albumen,  as  previously  indicated.  Secondly,  dust 
off  all  particles  from  this  surface  by  means  of  a  broad 
camel’s  hair  pencil,  which  must  stand  in  a  convenient 
position  for  this  purpose,  reared  upon  its  handle.  If 
the  weather  is  damp,  too,  you  had  better  move  the 
plate  a  moment  or  two  over  a  spirit  lamp  in  order  to 
drive  off  all  moisture ;  the  latter  may  be  seen  as  it 
volatilizes.  Then  let  the  plate  cool.  Hold  the  plate 
by  the  left  front  corner  between  the  thumb  and  first 
finger  of  the  left  hand,  whilst,  if  the  plate  be  heavy, 
the  second  finger  lends  assistance  in  bearing  the 
weight.  The  collodion  vial  is  then  taken  in  the  right 
hand;  now  pour  the  collodion  upon  the  plate  at  the 
right  hand  distant  corner,  and  incline  the  plate  gradu¬ 
ally  whilst  you  are  pouring,  so  that  the  collodion  may 
flow  to  the  other  distant  and  left  hand  corner  and  then 
forwards  toward  the  front.  As  soon  as  the  plate  is  a 
little  more  than  one-half  covered,  you  stop  pouring  out 
any  more  collodion,  and  allow  that,  which  has  been 
already  poured  upon  the  plate,  to  proceed  to  the  front, 
by  inclining  the  plate,  and  so  to  accumulate  near  the 
right  hand  anterior  corner,  where  the  excess  is  allowed 
to  flow  back  again  into  the  vial.  Whilst  this  excess  is 
thus  dropping  off  from  the  corner,  oscillate  the  plate  in 
the  direction  of  the  edge,  as  if  it  were  poised  on  this 
corner;  by  doing  so  ridges  on  the  collodion  film  in  the 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


27 


direction  of  the  inclination,  if  the  plate  were  quiescent, 
may  be  avoided.  As  soon  as  the  collodion  ceases  to 
drop,  or  nearly  ceases,  raise  the  plate  into  the  horizon¬ 
tal  position,  and  oscillate  it  now  in  the  direction  of  the 
flat  surfaces;  that  is  up  and  down  gently;  this  motion 
removes  all  reticulated  ridges  that  might  have  been 
formed  by  the  preceding  oscillatory  motion;  and  the 
collodion  surface  becomes  quite  smooth. 

As  soon  as  the  film  is  no  longer  soft,  when  touched 
with  the  finger,  but  yet  not  perfectly  dry,  the  plate  is 
immersed  in  the  silver  bath. 

There  is  a  considerable  knack  in  coating  a  plate  suc¬ 
cessfully  with  collodion,  and  this  knack,  like  every  me¬ 
chanical  operation  of  this  nature  can  scarcely  be  ob¬ 
tained  otherwise  than  by  practice.  All  that  we  can  do 
is  to  point  out  the  simplest  and  clearest  method  by 
which  the  art  can  be  obtained. 

To  coat  very  large  plates  with  collodion  requires  the 
aid  of  a  pneumatic-holder,  which  contains  at  least  two 
suction  discs;  one  of  three  would  still  be  more  expedi¬ 
ent.  This  form  of  holder  has  just  been  patented;  it  is 
an  excellent  aid  in  such  and  similar  operations,  and 
can  be  attached  in  an  instant  to  a  plate  by  simply  slap¬ 
ping  the  discs  with  a  smart  quick  blow  upon  the  oppo¬ 
site  side  of  the  plate  to  that  which  it  is  intended  to 
coat  with  collodion.  A  holder  with  a  single  disc  is 
sufficiently  strong  to  hold  any  plate  up  to  the  four- 
fourth  size.  Another  arrangement  is  found  to  be  very 
efficacious  in  coating  very  large  and  heavy  plates;  plates 
that  are  much  too  heavy  and  too  large  to  be  supported 
by  one  hand.  It  is  this :  a  strong  walking  cane,  or, 
still  better,  the  handle  of  a  broom  is  fixed  perpendicu- 


28 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


larly  in  an  aperture  in  the  floor;  the  upper  part  is 
rounded  off  into  a  semi-spheroidal  shape,  and  a  piece  of 
woolen  cloth  is  tied  over  it.  When  about  to  coat  the 
plate,  the  following  is  the  proceeding:  with  both  hands 
carry  the  plate  and  place  it  horizontally  over  the  upper 
end  of  the  broom-stick,  so  that  the  center  of  the  plate 
rests  on  the  woolen  cloth;  in  such  a  position  the  plate 
is  easily  supported,  and,  being  balanced,  it  can  be  os¬ 
cillated  by  means  of  the  left  hand  in  any  direction 
whatever.  The  woolen  cloth  protects  the  surface  from 
being  scratched,  and,  at  the  same  time,  prevents  the 
plate  from  sliding  off  its  support.  The  collodion  is 
poured  upon  the  surface  as  before  directed,  and,  as 
soon  as  the  surface  is  completely  covered,  the  collodion 
vial  is  laid  aside,  and  the  subsequent  manipulations  are 
performed  with  the  two  hands  acting  in  combination. 

If  the  collodion  film  is  introduced  into  the  silver 
bath  before  it  has  had  time  to  congeal;  that  is,  has  be¬ 
come  dry  and  compact  in  structure  so  as  not  to  be  dis¬ 
integrated  by  an  impression  from  the  finger,  the  film  is 
liable  to  split  up  and  break  off  in  patches,  or  wholly,  in 
the  subsequent  operations  of  developing,  fixing,  etc. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  film  be  too  dry,  it  resists  the 
permeation  of  the  silver  solution  and  does  not  become, 
in  consequence,  so  easily  and  completely  sensitized. 


CHAPTEK  III. 


THE  NITRATE  OF  SILVER  BATH,  ITS  PREPARATION,  TROUBLES, 
AND  RENOVATION. 

Nitrate  of  silver  is  a  salt  which  is  sometimes  adul¬ 
terated;  it  is  an  advantage,  therefore,  to  know  how  to 
detect  this  adulteration  before  the  bath  is  prepared. 
Buy  always  the  salt  in  the  form  of  large  flat  crystalline 
tables ;  if  the  crystals  have  more  the  appearance  of 
common  salt,  it  is  a  pretty  certain  indication  that  the 
salt  is  not  pure. 

To  make  the  indication  certain,  dissolve  five  grains 
of  the  crystals  in  a  drachm  of  water,  and  drop  into  the 
solution  hydrochloric  acid  as  long  as  a  white  curdy 
precipitate  is  produced;  separate  the  chloride  of  silver, 
thus  formed,  by  filtration  through  paper  prepared  for 
the  purpose.  Into  the  clear  liquid  filtrate  add  another 
drop  of  hydrochloric  acid;  if  no  curdiness  is  produced, 
it  is  a  sign  that  all  the  silver  has  been  removed  from 
the  solution,  which,  if  the  original  salt  was  adulterated, 
will  contain  the  salt  or  salts  used  in  the  adulteration, 
together  with  traces  of  hydrochloric  acid. 

Evaporate  the  filtrate  to  dryness;  if  nothing  remains 
on  the  evaporating  dish,  it  is  an  evidence  that  the 
silver  salt  was  pure,  unless  nitrate  of  lead  had  been 
used  in  the  adulteration;  in  this  case  the  lead  salt  will 
be  found  on  the  filter.  But  if  there  is  a  whitish  residue 
on  the  evaporating  dish,  this  may  be  weighed  and  put 
down  as  so  much  impurity. 


30 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


Mix  a  few  particles  of  pulverized  lime  and  some  of 
the  white  residue  together,  and  moisten  the  mixture 
with  a  drop  of  water.  If  nitrate  of  ammonia  be  pre¬ 
sent  in  this  residue,  it  will  be  decomposed  by  the  lime, 
and  the  fumes  of  ammonia  will  be  set  at  liberty.  The 
absence  of  all  smell  of  ammonia  shows  distinctly  the 
absence  of  an  ammoniacal  salt.  In  this  case  nitrate  of 
soda  may  be  suspected.  This  salt  burns  like  salt¬ 
petre  when  thrown  upon  a  piece  of  burning  charcoal; 
and  blotting  paper  impregnated  with  this  salt  in  solu¬ 
tion  and  dried  forms  touch-paper,  which,  when  kindled, 
burns  with  a  deflagrating  noise,  but  without  flame,  un¬ 
til  it  is  totally  consumed. 

Supposing  the  impurity  is  nitrate  of  lead,  it  will  be 
found  now  as  chloride  of  lead  mixed  with  chloride  of 
silver  on  the  filter.  Filter  through  the  mixed  chlorides 
dilute  nitric  acid  for  some  time.  The  chloride  of  lead 
will  be  dissolved,  and  pass  through  the  filter,  leaving 
the  chloride  of  silver  on  the  filter.  Evaporate  the  so¬ 
lution  to  dryness;  if  there  be  no  residue,  there  is  no 
lead  salt  mixed  with  the  silver  salt. 

Having  in  this  way  satisfied  yourself  of  the  purity  of 
the  nitrate  of  silver  purchased,  proceed  further  as 
follows : 

Take — 

Rain  water  -  -  2  quarts  or  64  ounces. 

Crystallized  nitrate  of  silver  6  “ 

Stir  the  salt  in  the  water  until  it  is  dissolved.  This 
solution  will  contain  a  little  less  than  forty  grains  of 
nitrate  of  silver  to  the  ounce  of  water.  Divide  the  so¬ 
lution  into  two  halves. 


the  photo  Grapher’s  guide. 


31 


IODIDE  OF  SILVER. 

Take  a  drachm  of  this  solution  and  add  to  it  drop  by 
drop  a  solution  of  iodide  of  potassium,  as  long  as  a  yel¬ 
low  precipitate  is  formed;  let  the  precipitate  settle; 
then  decant  the  fluid  portion  and  wash  the  precipitate 
with  a  couple  of  drachms  of  water;  let  the  precipitate 
again  settle,  and  finally  pour  away  the  supernatant 
water.  This  yellow  substance  is  iodide  of  silver. 

Mix  the  iodide  of  silver  with  the  one-half  of  the  ni¬ 
trate  of  silver  solution  and  stir  the  mixture  with  a  glass 
rod.  After  standing  for  an  hour,  filter  this  solution 
and  then  add  it  to  the  other  half. 

Now,  throw  a  small  piece  of  blue  litmus  paper  into 
the  solution  and  let  it  remain  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  If 
the  color  does  not  at  all  change  to  red  in  this  time,  or 
but  exceedingly  slightly ,  the  bath  will  be  in  a  proper 
condition  to  receive  the  collodionized  plate.  On  the 
contrary,  if  the  blue  color  almost  immediately  becomes 
red,  this  is  a  sign  that  the  bath  is  much  too  acid;  and 
you  have  now  to  neutralize  it  with  carbonate  of  soda, 
or  oxide  of  silver.  Such  an  occurrence,  however,  will 
seldom  be  met  with,  for  pure  nitrate  of  silver  is  a  neu¬ 
tral  salt,  that  is  neither  acid  nor  alkaline;  and  an  im¬ 
pure  salt  you  will  reject  at  the  very  outset.  Still  we 
will  indicate  the  means  of  correcting  this  acid  condition 
where  it  does  exist. 

CARBONATE  OF  SODA. 

The  easiest  method  of  neutralizing  a  bath  is  that 
with  carbonate  of  soda;  because  oxide  of  silver  is  but 
very  feebly  soluble  in  the  cold  solution.  Dissolve  a 
drachm  of  carbonate  of  soda  in  a  small  quantity  of 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


water,  and  add  of  this  solution  drop  by  drop  a  suffi¬ 
cient  quantity  until  the  acidity  is  completely  neutra¬ 
lized.  The  bath  must  be  well  stirred  after  the  addition 
of  a  few  drops  of  the  alkaline  solution,  and  then  tested. 

OXIDE  OF  SILVER. 

Take  a  drachm  of  the  nitrate  of  silver  solution  and 
add  to  it  drop  by  drop  a  solution  of  caustic  potassa  as 
long  as  a  brown  precipitate  is  formed;  finally,  allow 
the  precipitate  to  settle,  and  pour  away  the  liquid  on 
the  top.  Mix  with  the  precipitate  a  couple  of  drachms 
of  water,  stir  the  mixture  well,  and  again  allow  the  re¬ 
sidue  to  subside.  Decant  again.  Repeat  this  opera¬ 
tion  of  washing  two  or  three  times;  and  at  the  end 
separate  the  brown  powder  from  the  supernatant 
liquid — this  is  oxide  of  silver. 

Mix  the  still  moist  oxide  of  silver  with  the  acid  bath, 
and  stir  it  up  well;  boil  the  mixture,  and  then  set  it 
aside  for  a  number  of  hours.  The  free  acid  combines 
with  the  oxide  and  forms  with  it  a  silver  salt,  which 
probably  is  nitrate  of  silver;  and  the  bath  thus  is  ren¬ 
dered  neutral.  The  bath  solution  is  again  filtered. 

It  is  quite  an  advantage  to  set  a  funnel  aside  always 
for  this  special  purpose  of  filtration;  in  this  case  it  is  a 
very  easy  operation  to  filter  the  bath  every  evening,  or 
every  week,  according  to  the  work  done  or  the  liability 
of  the  bath  to  receive  dust  and  other  impurities.  The 
filtering  paper  may  be  used  over  and  over  again  re¬ 
peatedly  until  it  finally  gives  way  by  some  mechanical 
rupture.  Never  be  afraid  of  injuring  the  silver  solu¬ 
tion  by  filtration,  as  some  have  insinuated;  the  view 
is  erroneous;  on  the  contrary,  you  avoid  numerous 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


33 


troubles  by  always  preserving  the  bath  free  from  all 
mechanical  impurities. 

The  bath,  which  may  be  either  of  glass,  photogra¬ 
phic  ware,  or  porcelain,  is  placed  in  an  inclined  po¬ 
sition  in  the  dark,  or  non-actinic  room;  in  this  room 
the  albumenized  plates  are  coated  with  collodion,  and 
then  directly  immersed  by  means  of  a  porcelain  or  glass 
dipper  in  the  silver  solution. 

Each  bath  ought  to  be  furnished  with  a  cover  or  lid 
to  keep  out  both  dust  and  light  both  during  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  sensitizing  and  at  every  other  time.  In  imme¬ 
diate  proximity  with  the  bath  it  is  advisable  to  fix  a 
glass  funnel  dipping  into  a  receiver  beneath.  This 
funnel  must  be  a  permanent  fixture,  and  is  intended  to 
receive  the  sensitized  plate  the  moment  it  is  taken  out  of 
the  bath.  The  plate  rests  in  the  funnel  quite  easily  with¬ 
out  any  danger  of  the  collodion  film  being  injured  by 
coming  in  contact  with  the  sides  of  the  conical  shaped 
funnel,  a  thing  that  is  impossible.  In  this  position  the 
excess  of  nitrate  of  silver  drains  from  the  plate  and  is 
collected  in  the  bottle  beneath,  from  which,  from  time  to 
time,  it  can  be  returned  to  the  bath. 

As  soon  as  the  plate  ceases  to  drop  any  more  of  the 
silver  solution,  it  is  immediately  transferred  to  the 
plateholder  for  the  subsequent  operation  of  being  ex¬ 
posed. 

But  we  have  not  yet  finished  with  our  discussion  of 
the  bath  solution.  It  is  liable  to  get  out  of  order;  and 
it  is  necessary  to  know  how  to  remove  the  troubles 
that  may  occaisonally  supervene. 

The  bath  is  most  sensitive  when  it  is  in  a  neutral 
condition,  but  in  this  condition  the  collodion  film  is 


34 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


apt  to  be  fogged  all  over  the  surface  in  the  subsequent 
operation  of  development  with  tbe  ordinary  iron  devel¬ 
oper;  with  the  collo-ferric  developer  this  trouble  of 
fogging  is  not  likely  to  occur.  Whenever  the  film  be¬ 
comes  fogged  a  drop  or  two  of  nitric  acid  have  to  be 
added  to  the  bath  solution,  and  so  long  but  cautiously 
added  until  the  evil  is  removed.  We  mean  by  fogging 
that  the  film  becomes  covered  with  a  veil  or  cloud,  as 
it  were,  which  renders  it  all  over  slightly  opaque,  even 
after  the  fixing  of  the  image,  or  the  removal  of  all  sol¬ 
uble  iodides.  But  the  most  frequent  cause  of  this  fog¬ 
ging  is  not  to  be  attributed  so  much  to  the  bath  as  to 
the  careless  manner  of  exposing  the  plate  during  the 
time  that  it  is  being  sensitized,  or  after  removing  it 
from  the  bath  to  the  plateholder,  to  diffused  actinic 
light.  Such  a  plate  is  exceedingly  sensitive;  and  a 
very  small  amount  of  common  light  will  suffice  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  great  deal  of  damage  in  a  very  little  time. 
Therefore,  before  any  attempt  is  made  to  doctor  the 
bath  with  acid,  see  first  that  your  light  is  in  a  proper 
condition  of  non-actinism.  Of  this  we  shall  speak  in  a 
special  chapter. 

By  repeated  and  long  use  the  bath  solution  becomes 
impoverished  and  deteriorated  by  impregnation  with 
foreign  substances — substances  introduced  with  each 
plate  and  produced  by  chemical  decomposition  or 
otherwise.  Thus  let  us  examine  what  the  collodion 
film  contains  on  its  introduction  into  the  solution.  In 
the  first  place,  there  is  the  collodion  itself  containing 
pyroxyline,  alcohol,  and  ether,  and  in  addition,  some¬ 
times,  the  results  of  the  partial  decomposition  of  both 
ether  and  alcohol,  as  well  as  impurities  in  the  soluble 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


35 


cotton  itself,  as,  for  instance,  free  sulphuric  acid  or  an 
alkali.  To  these  may  be  added  the  bromo-iodized 
salts  used  in  the  photographic  collodion.  Thus, 
then,  the  bath  will  gradually  be  rendered  impure  by 
dilution  with  alcohol,  and  ether  certainly,  and  with 
other  substances,  such  as  sulphuric  acid  and  an  alkali, 
probably.  But  by  the  chemical  decomposition  which 
takes  place  immediately,  when  the  collodionized  plate 
is  immersed  in  the  solution,  we  have,  in  addition  to 
the  above  nitrate  of  ammonia,  nitrate  of  the  oxide  of 
cadmium  and  other  soluble  nitrates,  produced  according 
to  what  salts  may  be  found  in  the  bromo-iodizing 
solution. 

Now  each  collodionized  plate  introduces  a  little  of 
each  and  nearly  of  all  of  the  ingredients  enumerated, 
on  all  occasions,  certainly,  a  little  alcohol,  ether,  and 
of  the  soluble  nitrates.  These,  by  their  gradual  accu¬ 
mulation,  must  have  a  tendency  to  put  the  bath  out  of 
order  and  render  it  less  efficacious  than  at  the  begin¬ 
ning,  when  newly  prepared.  But  by  the  mutual  action 
of  nitrate  of  silver  on  each  of  these,  or  on  each  other, 
other  compounds  are  produced.  The  photographer, 
therefore,  will  no  longer  be  surprised  that  the  silver 
bath  does  get  out  of  order  ;  in  fact  it  would  be  sur¬ 
prising  if  it  did  not. 

But  now  the  question  arises :  How  can  these  troubles 
be  removed?  or,  if  incapable  of  being  removed  en¬ 
tirely,  how  can  they  be  diminished  ? 

Mechanical  impurities,  such  as  dust  and  collodion, 
and  insoluble  chemical  precipitates  or  crystals,  such  as 
the  iodide  of  silver,  bromide  of  silver  and  sulphate  of 


36 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


silver,  can  be  easily  removed  by  careful  and  frequent 
filtration. 

Volatile  liquids,  such  as  ether  and  alcohol,  are  di¬ 
minished  to  a  minimum  quantity  by  boiling  or  distil¬ 
lation;  by  the  latter  method  they  may  be  collected  in 
a  receiver  and  applied  afterward  to  some  useful  pur¬ 
pose. 

If  iodide  and  bromide  of  ammonium  were  alone  used 
in  the  bromo-iodizing  solution,  the  salt  arising  from 
double  decomposition  in  the  silver  bath  would  be 
nitrate  of  ammonia;  this  salt  might  be  removed  en¬ 
tirely  by  fusion  and  decomposition  by  heat,  after  the 
bath  had  been  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  nitrate  of 
silver  would  remain.  But  collodion  seldom,  if  ever, 
contains  these  two  salts  alone,  and  consequently  all 
other  resulting  nitrates  would  remain  in  fusion  along 
with  nitrate  of  silver. 

It  is  hence  apparent,  that  an  old  bath  cannot  be 
freed  of  its  salts  except  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
silver  salt  itself,  and  furthermore,  that  filtration  and 
distillation  are  the  only  means  within  our  power  of 
making  an  approximation  to  the  purification  of  the 
silver  bath. 

Cyanide  of  potassium  has  been  recommended  as  a 
sure  means  of  restoring  a  disordered  bath;  it  is  quite 
certain  that  by  dropping  into  the  bath  a  drachm  or  so 
of  the  solution,  then  by  placing  the  bath  in  the  sun  for 
several  hours,  and  afterward  by  filtration,  the  silver 
bath  becomes  momentarily  wonderfully  improved,  but 
it  soon  loses  this  quality  and  becomes  finally  worse 
than  it  was  before  this  treatment. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


37 


Upon  the  whole,  it  is  advisable,  after  an  old  bath  has 
been  used  for  a  long  time,  and  has  been  several  times 
boiled  and  subjected  to  distillation,  to  precipitate  the 
silver  by  means  of  a  solution  of  common  salt,  to  wash 
and  dry  the  residue,  and  finally  reduce  the  resulting 
chloride  of  silver  to  the  metallic  state  by  fusion.  But 
the  operator  will  find  no  advantage  in  doing  the  work 
himself;  there  are  silver  and  gold  refiners  who  buy  up 
all  such  residues  of  silver  and  of  gold,  and  make  a 
business  of  reducing  them.  Nevertheless,  we  shall  de¬ 
vote  a  special  chapter  to  this  department  of  a  photo¬ 
grapher’s  business,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 


2 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  SKY-LIGHT,  SIDE-LIGHT,  SCREENS,  AND  ACCESSORIES  FOR 
POSING  THE  MODEL. 

The  department,  upon  which  we  now  enter,  is  a  sub¬ 
ject  of  the  most  vital  importance,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  least  understood,  and  consequently  the  least  under 
control.  It  has  baffled  the  attempts  of  many  an  author 
to  describe,  because  it  is  a  department  of  art  as  well 
as  of  science.  A  combination  of  art  and  science  can 
alone  solve  the  difficulties. 

The  first  aim  of  the  artist  in  painting  is  to  obtain  a 
natural  roundness  and  an  agreeable  contrast  of  light 
and  shade  in  his  portrait;  these  properties  not  only 
confer  vitality  to  the  inert  picture,  but  at  the  same 
time  this  vitality  is  sparkling,  as  it  were,  and  pleasant 
to  behold. 

This  ought  also  to  be  the  first  aim  of  the  photographer. 

In  order  to  attain  to  this  desideratum  the  artist  ma¬ 
nipulates  with  his  lights  so  long,  not  by  guess,  but  in 
accordance  with  the  science  of  optics  and  of  taste, 
until  his  model  is  so  placed  as  to  present  in  person  the 
artistic  model  he  wishes  to  copy. 

The  photographer  must  do  exactly  the  same. 

Let  us  here  then  present  before  our  readers  some 
general  principles.  Place  a  globe  on  a  pedestal  and 
let  it  represent  the  sitter’s  head.  Let  us  suppose  we 
wish  to  make  a  picture  of  this  globe  so  that  it  shall  ap¬ 
pear  perfectly  flat  like  a  round  table — how  must  the 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


39 


globe  be  illumined  so  as  to  give  tbe  appearance  re¬ 
quired  ? 

Shut  out  all  the  light  except  the  one  immediately  in 
front  of  it;  or  let  the  sun  shine  directly  upon  the  sur¬ 
face  to  be  copied. 

The  globe  itself  will  appear  flat — and  so  will  the  pic¬ 
ture,  because  the  illumination  is  apparently  equal  all 
over  the  surface. 

By  what  means  are  solid  objects  depicted  on  a  flat 
surface  so  as  to  appear  solid  ? 

Firstly,  by  the  conveyance  of  the  lines  of  contour  of 
the  given  object  to  a  given  point  or  to  given  points; 
and 

Secondly,  by  shading  the  object  more  and  more  ac¬ 
cording  as  the  part  becomes  more  and  more  distant. 

Hence,  if  there  is  no  difference  in  the  illumination  of 
a  given  object,  there  will  be  no  contrast  of  light  and 
shade,  and  consequently  the  picture  will  be  in  like 
manner  devoid  of  light  and  shade,  and  consequently 
flat. 

Can  the  globe  be  placed  in  such  a  position  as  to 
be  illumined  most  in  front  and  then  that  the  light  gra¬ 
dually  becomes  less  intense  to  the  edge  of  the  illumin¬ 
ated  hemisphere  ? 

Kemove  the  globe  back  from  the  window  ;  and  sup¬ 
pose  the  window  to  be  a  small  opening  at  the  end  of  a 
long  corridor,  which,  when  this  opening  is  closed  up, 
would  be  quite  dark;  and  let  the  ceiling,  the  side  walls, 
end,  and  floor  be  covered  with  black  woolen  cloth. 
Then  it  will  be  evident  by  experiment,  that,  as  the 
globe  is  made  to  recede,  its  surface  gradually  will  as¬ 
sume  more  and  more  apparent  roundness  to  the  eye  of 


40 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


the  beholder;  and  this  apparent  ronndness  will  be  im¬ 
proved  until  finally  there  is  a  balance  between  the 
light  and  shade.  If  the  globe  be  carried  further  back, 
the  balance  will  be  destroyed  by  a  preponderance  of 
darkness  or  shade.  Thus,  too  much  light,  or  too  little 
light,  is  equally  opposed  to  the  production  of  apparent 
solidity  in  an  object. 

Instead  of  having  an  opening  in  the  corridor  at  the 
end,  let  this  be  closed  up,  and  another  be  opened  right 
above  the  globe  in  the  ceiling;  and  let  the  eye  of  the 
spectator  be  placed  on  a  level  with  ‘the  center  of  the 
globe.  What  will  be  the  phenomenon  in  this  case  ? 

One-quarter  of  the  globe  alone  will  be  visible,  and 
the  most  illuminated  portion  is  that  part  which  in  re¬ 
ality  is  the  most  distant,  and  the  nearest  part;  that  is, 
the  part  nearest  the  eye,  receives  the  least  amount  of 
light;  and  thus,  what  one  part  gains  in  luminosity,  it 
loses  in  distance,  and  vice  versa;  so  that  here  also  the 
idea  or  appearance  of  solidity  is  destroyed.  With  such 
a  light  we  should  have  the  same  result,  however  dis¬ 
tant  the  light  might  be  removed  from  the  globe,  as  long 
as  the  eye  preserves  its  position  on  a  horizontal  level 
with  the  center  of  the  globe. 

We  hence  deduce,  in  general  terms,  that  a  vertical 
light  is  altogether  inferior  to  a  horizontal  light  for  the 
illumination  of  an  object,  that  is  intended  to  be  so 
shaded  as  to  appear  solid  when  photographed,  the  eye 
or  the  lens  being  supposed  to  be  in  the  horizon  of  the 
center  of  said  object. 

We  deduce,  furthermore,  that  a  horizontal  light, 
when  the  light  and  the  eye  are  in  the  same  plane,  will, 
under  all  ordinary  circumstances,  produce  a  flat  pic- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


41 


ture,  because  it  suffuses  the  object  with  an  equal 
quantity  of  light  all  over  its  surface. 

But,  if  neither  a  single  vertical,  nor  a  single  horizon¬ 
tal  light,  unaided,  will  produce  the  proper  illumination 
of  an  object  so  as  to  exhibit  the  right  contrast  of  light 
and  shade,  that  shall  cause  apparent  solidity,  what 
is  to  be  done  ? 

We  must  avail  ourselves  of  every  aid  that  presents 
itself;  and  such  aid  may  be  derived  from  a  combination 
of  lights,  direct  or  by  reflection;  thus,  in  the  case  of 
the  vertical  light  above  mentioned,  the  eye  in  its  pre¬ 
scribed  position  could  distinguish  only  one-fourth  of 
the  sphere  illuminated ;  now  let  us  arrange  a  large 
white  screen  near  the  globe  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees  with  the  floor,  its  central  part  being  as  high  as 
the  center  of  the  globe,  we  shall  perceive  a  much  larger 
part  of  the  globe  illuminated  than  before ;  and  yet  the 
light  has  not  been  changed  either  in  its  original  direc¬ 
tion,  in  quality  or  in  quantity;  but  we  have  manipu¬ 
lated  with  our  light,  and  made  it  subservient  to  our 
wishes. 

But  we  might  have  accomplished  the  same  object  by 
admitting  a  small  quantity  of  light  from  an  aperture, 
and  allowing  it  to  arrive  at  the  globe  in  the  same  di¬ 
rection  as  that  which  was  reflected. 

What  we  here  present  are  general  principles;  and 
from  these  general  principles  it  is  required  to  elaborate 
a  system  of  lights  and  reflectors  (screens),  by  means 
of  which  the  sitter  may  be  artistically  suffused  with  an 
agreeable  contrast  of  light  and  shade. 

As  soon  as  the  operator  has  once  found  out  a  posi¬ 
tion  for  the  model,  and  an  arrangement  of  curtains  and 


42 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


screens  in  a  given  room,  which  will  produce  the  best 
effect  of  light  and  shade,  he  can  ever  afterward  fix  his 
model  and  reproduce  his  arrangements.  All  this  is 
very  easy;  but  in  case  a  group  has  to  be  photographed, 
he  will  frequently  be  greatly  perplexed  unless  he  makes 
himself  quite  familiar  with  the  general  principles  which 
we  have  endeavored  to  inculcate. 

With  these  few  hints  we  will  now  proceed  to  the 
sky-light,  etc.,  which  form  an  essential  part  of  a  pho¬ 
tographic  establishment. 

As  a  general  rule  the  photographer’s  glass-room  is 
found  in  the  upper  story  of  a  building,  and  in  such  a 
position  that  the  adjoining  buildings  are  not  higher, 
and  where  there  are  no  trees,  steeples,  or  chimnies  to 
cast  shadows  upon  the  roof. 

The  best  position  of  a  house  for  this  purpose  is  when 
the  roof  runs  directly  East  and  West;  still  it  is  possible 
to  get  along  with  any  direction,  and  to  fix  or  construct 
the  lights  accordingly. 

Taking  then  the  normal  condition,  in  which  the  roof 
runs  East  and  West,  the  floor  of  the  garret  is  removed, 
in  order  to  allow  the  sky-light  to  be  as  far  remote  as 
possible  from  the  sitter.  Upon  the  side  of  the  roof 
which  inclines  to  the  North  the  sky-light  is  to  be  con¬ 
structed,  and  continued,  after  it  arrives  at  the  eaves, 
until  within  a  couple  of  feet  of  the  floor.  The  distance 
from  the  East  and  West  walls  must  be  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  at  least.  In  this  case  half  the  width  of  the 
roof  either  on  the  East  or  West  side  can  be  devoted  to 
the  sky-light  and  side-light,  both,  of  course,  looking 
North.  Curtains  are  arranged  in  parts  with  pulleys 
and  cords,  so  as  to  cover  both  of  these  windows  en- 


THE  PHOTOGKAPHEIt’s  GUIDE. 


43 


tirely  or  partly  according  to  circumstances.  It  is  well 
to  have  two  sorts  of  curtains,  one  set  opaque  so  as  to 
shut  out  the  light  altogether,  and  the  other  set  of  blue 
or  white  semi-transparent  material  intended  simply  to 
modify  the  light. 

In  an  ordinary  sized  building,  three-fourths  of  the 
whole  flight  is  devoted  to  the  glass-room,  the  remain¬ 
ing  portion  being  set  apart  for  other  purposes,  such  as 
dark-room,  printing,  or  store-room,  etc. 

If  the  roof  of  the  building  runs  North  and  South, 
and  said  building  is  isolated  from  other  edifices,  a  sky¬ 
light  is  constructed  on  either  side  of  the  roof,  and  the 
Northern  end,  at  least,  a  portion  of  it,  is  devoted  to 
the  side-light.  These  three  windows  are  all  furnished 
with  movable  opaque  curtains  or  screens  designed  for 
excluding  the  direct  light  from  the  sun  when  in  the 
East  or  in  the  West,  or  portions  of  light  in  certain 
directions. 

The  plans  which  we  have  described  are  such  as  may 
be  followed,  when  the  building  is  already  constructed; 
but  little  alteration  is  needed  in  the  general  form  of 
the  original  construction,  and  consequently  the  ex¬ 
pense  will  not  be  very  great;  but  if  we  had  to  construct 
a  model  glass-house,  our  plan  would  be  different  from 
the  preceding.  The  Southern  half  of  the  upper  part 
of  the  house  we  would  devote  to  the  posing-room 
proper,  the  background  being  placed  near  the  South 
wall,  whilst  the  sitter  looks  toward  the  North.  Along 
the  middle  of  the  other  half  an  alley  is  constructed  for 
the  camera.  A  general  idea  of  the  outer  form  of  our 
model  glass-house  may  be  given  by  imagining  two 
boxes  placed  endwise  in  contact,  but  one  of  them  being 


44 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


twice  as  high  as  tlie  other.  The  tall  one  represents  the 
posing-room,  the  low  one  the  gallery  for  the  cameras, 
in  connection  with  each  other.  On  the  roof  where  the 
two  parts  join  the  sky-light  is  constructed,  haying  an 
inclination  of  forty-five  degrees;  and  on  either  side 
there  is  a  side-light  to  within  a  couple  of  feet  to  the 
ground.  All  these  lights  are  furnished  with  curtains 
and  opaque  shutters.  Only  one  side-light  is  used  at  a 
time  in  portraiture.  On  either  side  of  the  avenue  de¬ 
voted  for  the  camera,  are  side-rooms  for  various  pur¬ 
poses,  such  as  toilet-rooms,  stock-rooms,  dark-rooms, 
etc.  The  intention  of  this  arrangement  is  to  keep  the 
camera  in  as  dark  a  place  as  possible,  in  order  that  the 
space  between  the  camera  and  sitter  may  reflect  but 
little  light  into  the  lens  ;  for  it  is  impossible  to  obtain 
a  bright  picture  on  the  ground  glass  when  the  space 
referred  to  is  full  of  light;  there  is  no  contrast;  in  fact 
in  such  a  case,  where  your  room  is  full  of  light,  you 
would  be  taking  a  picture  of  the  atmosphere  rather 
than  of  your  sitter;  and  your  work  would  always  be 
unsatisfactory. 

Illumine  your  sitter  but  not  your  room  ! 

The  glass  employed  for  such  lights  is,  when  all 
things  are  considered,  the  ordinary  strong  and  color¬ 
less  crown  glass.  With  a  convenient  and  proper  ar¬ 
rangement  of  curtains  and  blinds,  there  is  no  particu¬ 
lar  advantage,  if  any  at  all,  in  having  the  windows 
glazed  with  blue  stained  glass,  ground  glass,  or  glass 
painted  either  of  a  dead  blue  or  white.  These  all  more 
or  less  obstruct  actinic  light,  and  there  are  times  when 
all  the  light,  that  can  possibly  be  obtained,  is  required. 
Still  we  must  guard  the  reader  against  supposing  that 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


45 


negatives  are  good  according  to  the  quantity  of  light 
that  has  access  into  the  gallery;  the  truth  is  frequently 
just  the  contrary;  that  is,  a  very  small  amount  of  light 
frequently  will  produce  a  better  picture  than  an  un¬ 
limited  quantity. 

The  walls  and  ceiling  of  the  glass-room  must  be 
painted  of  a  dead  bluish-gray  color,  or  a  gray-drab; 
and  the  floor  must  be  covered  with  a  carpet  of  similar 
colors.  The  backgrounds  are  made  of  woolen  cloth,  or 
some  material  in  imitation  of  woolen  cloth.  One  side 
may  be  gray,  and  the  other  white;  or  separate  back¬ 
grounds  may  be  used  each  of  a  different  shade.  Pic¬ 
torial  backgrounds  in  monochrome  are  sometimes  very 
appropriate  ;  but  the  operator  must  always  bear  in 
mind  that  in  portraiture  the  background  is  a  second¬ 
ary  matter,  and  must  not  be  made  the  most  prominent 
part  of  the  picture.  By  placing  the  background  more 
remote  from  the  sitter,  it  will  be  more  out  of  focus  and 
less  distinct  in  the  picture;  with  this  knowledge  the 
artist  can  arrange  the  background  so  as  to  produce  the 
effect  required. 

In  addition  to  the  backgrounds,  a  number  of  swing 
screens  covered  with  white  cotton  cloth  are  required 
to  be  used  as  reflectors.  For,  supposing  the  model  is 
placed  with  his  back  nearly  South-West,  and  his  face 
looking  North-East,  it  is  evident  that  a  portion  of  the 
right  side  of  his  head  and  face  will  be  too  much  in  the 
shade.  To  obviate  this  defect  a  screen  is  placed  at 
some  distance  South  of  the  sitter  and  facing  the  North, 
and  at  such  an  angle  as  to  reflect  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  light  to  relieve  the  deep  shadows  on  the  side  of  the 
face  in  question. 

2* 


46 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


The  sitter  must  be  placed  back  toward  the  South 
side,  and  far  enough  to  escape  the  vertical  rays  from 
the  sky-light,  otherwise  the  upper  part  of  the  head 
will  be  illumined  disproportionately  with  the  rest  of 
the  body;  and  large  shadows  will  be  produced  beneath 
all  the  prominent  parts  of  the  head  and  face,  as  the 
nose,  eyebrows,  cheekbones,  etc.  The  tendency  of 
such  a  light  will  be  also  to  flatten  the  head  in  the  pic¬ 
ture,  as  we  have  already  mentioned  in  reference  to  the 
illumination  of  a  globe. 

In  fine,  place  the  sitter  so  that  there  are  no  deep 
shadows  on  the  eyes,  beneath  the  nose,  or  on  the  neck; 
let  there  be  only  one  reflected  star  on  each  eye ;  this 
can  be  effected  by  means  of  the  curtains;  let  one  side 
of  the  face  be  slightly  more  luminous  than  the  other, 
the  brightest  parts  being  those  which  are  most  an¬ 
terior;  let  the  eye  of  the  beholder,  or  the  lens  of  the 
camera  be  a  trifling  distance  above  the  elevation  of  the 
eye  of  the  model;  if  it  were  otherwise,  the  opening  of 
the  nostrils  would  be  quite  visible  and  unpleasantly 
depicted  in  the  picture.  Place  the  sitter  in  a  comfort¬ 
able,  easy,  and  natural  posture;  and  when  accessories 
are  to  embellish  the  picture,  such  as  a  piano,  table,  etc., 
let  them  be  appropriate  to  the  sex,  profession,  or  con¬ 
dition.  It  is  absurd  to  attempt  to  make  a  fitness  of 
things  where  it  was  never  intended;  it  is  a  constraint 
that  makes  a  picture  ludicrous. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


LENSES  AND  CAMERAS. 

The  lenses  used  in  portraiture,  are  all,  or  nearly  all 
of  them,  constructed  after  the  same  formulas.  In  a 
work  like  this,  which  is  designed  for  the  practical  oper¬ 
ator,  it  would  entirely  be  out  of  place  to  discuss  these 
formulas,  which  are  intelligible  only  to  the  physico- 
mathematican.  Such  lenses  are  called  portrait  or 
compound  lenses  to  distinguish  them  from  lenses  of 
apparently  a  much  more  simple  construction  which  are 
used  in  landscape  photography. 

The  anterior  part  of  the  portrait  combination  con¬ 
sists  of  two  lenses  cemented  together  with  Canada  bal¬ 
sam,  which  makes  them  appear  like  one  lens.  The 
first  or  outer  lens  is  constructed  of  crown  glass,  and  is 
double  convex;  the  inner  lens  is  double  concave,  and 
of  flint  glass.  It  is  easy  to  distinguish  these  two  sorts 
of  glass:  flint  is  colorless,  or  if  slightly  tinged  it  is 
with  that  of  a  very  faint  yellow;  but  crown  glass  a 
faint  greenish  hue.  Remember,  the  convex  part  faces 
the  sitter. 

In  the  middle  of  the  tube  and  between  the  two  len¬ 
ticular  combinations  is  found  what  is  called  the  dia¬ 
phragm  or  stop,  being  a  piece  of  blackened  brass  with 
a  central  aperture.  In  some  portrait  combinations 
the  stops  are  movable  and  are  furnished  with  apertures 
of  different  diameters.  The  intention  of  these  stops  is 
this  :  the  central  and  the  peripheral  part  of  a  lens  pro- 


48 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


duce  pictures,  it  is  true,  independently  of  each  other, 
but  not  at  the  same  distance  from  the  lens.  This  pro¬ 
perty  can  easily  be  verified  by  sticking  a  round  disc  of 
leather  upon  the  central  part  of  a  lens  and  then  focus¬ 
sing  some  object  on  the  ground  glass.  The  picture  in 
this  case  is  formed  by  the  glass  ring  external  to  the 
leather  disc.  Now  remove  the  disc  of  leather,  and 
place  upon  the  lens  in  its  stead  a  piece  of  leather  as 
large  as  the  lens,  but  of  which  the  central  portion  was 
the  disc  previously.  In  this  case  the  light  passes  only 
through  this  central  part.  Focus  again  the  same  ob¬ 
ject  upon  the  ground  glass.  You  will  find  you  have  to 
increase  the  distance  between  the  lens  and  the  ground 
glass,  or  that  the  focus  for  the  outside  or  central  por¬ 
tion  of  a  lens  is  longer  than  that  of  the  external  or 
peripheral  part  of  a  lens.  Hence,  it  is  impossible, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  to  obtain  a  sharp  pic¬ 
ture  of  an  object  with  the  full  opening  of  a  lens;  for 
points  and  lines  that  are  out  of  focus  become  converted 
into  surfaces;  and  we  see  that  if  we  focus  with  the 
central  part  of  the  lens,  the  rays  that  come  to  a  focus 
from  the  outside  part  will  form  their  sharp  picture  in 
front  of  the  ground  glass.  In  consequence  of  this, 
stops  are  used  for  excluding  all  the  peripheral  rays; 
and  the  smaller  the  aperture  in  the  diaphragms  the 
sharper  the  picture.  But  there  is  a  limit  to  this  ad¬ 
vantage;  the  aperture  may  be  so  small  as  to  allow  but 
little  light  to  pass  through  it,  and,  although  the  pic¬ 
ture  that  is  thus  formed  is  very  neatly  defined,  it  is 
but  very  faintly  luminous  ;  but  luminosity  produces 
photographic  or  chemical  action  on  the  prepared  plate; 
and  this  action  varies  in  magnitude  with  the  quantity 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


49 


of  light;  so  that  when  the  luminous  picture  on  the 
ground  glass  is  faint,  it  will  fail  partially  or  totally  to 
produce  any  impression  on  the  chemically  prepared 
surfaces.  In  landscape  photography,  when  the  con¬ 
densation  of  light  is  very  great,  the  smallest  aperture 
may  be  used;  whereas,  in  the  glass-room,  there  is  but 
a  small  surface,  comparatively  speaking,  that  trans¬ 
mits  its  light  through  the  lens,  we  are  obliged  to  use 
the  largest  stop. 

The  posterior  lens  is  also  a  combination  of  two 
single  lenses,  but  these  are  not  cemented  together. 
The  inner  one,  that  is,  the  one  next  after  the  dia¬ 
phragm  consists  of  flint  glass;  it  is  concavo-convex  in 
form,  the  convex  side  looking  toward  the  center  of 
the  tube.  Between  this  and  the  last  lens  there  is  a 
small  brass  ring  which  keeps  the  two  lenses  apart. 
The  last  lens  is  a  double  convex  lens,  but  the  inner 
surface  is  more  convex  than  the  outer  one.  The  rea¬ 
son  of  this  variety  of  lenses,  so  as  to  produce  a  work¬ 
ing  combination,  is  not  intelligible  to  any  one  who  has 
not  made  the  subject  of  optics  an  earnest  study.  You 
have  seen  that  the  peripheral  parts  of  a  lens  act  differ¬ 
ently  from  the  central  parts  in  converging  rays  to  a 
focus;  and  that  diaphragms  are  applied  to  remedy  the 
evil;  now  you  must  proceed  a  step  further  and  learn 
that,  when  light  passes  through  a  lens,  whether  con¬ 
vex  or  concave,  it  undergoes  a  change  in  passing 
through;  before  it  entered,  it  was  colorless;  now  when 
it  makes  its  exit,  it  is  colored.  Another  step  teaches 
us,  that  lenses  made  of  one  sort  of  glass  have  the  pro¬ 
perty  of  correcting  the  color  produced  by  a  lens  of 
another  sort  of  glass.  Thus  the  light  that  passes 


50 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


through  the  front  double  convex  lens  of  crown  glass 
becomes  colored  by  this  passage  ;  but  the  double  con¬ 
cave  lens  of  flint  glass,  being  placed  immediately  be¬ 
hind  it,  receives  the  colored  rays  and  restores  them 
partially  to  their  original  colorless  condition.  Other 
combinations  succeed  in  order,  whose  function  it  is  to 
complete  the  restoration,  and  still  allow  a  residual 
quantity  of  convexity  of  surface  to  remain  in  order  to 
converge  the  rays  as  they  finally  pass  out;  for  without 
convergence  there  can  be  no  picture. 

For  landscape  photography  the  same  sort  of  lens 
can  be  used  as  for  portraiture;  but  one  of  less  costly 
construction  will  answer  the  purpose  equally  well ;  it 
is  also  much  lighter  in  weight,  and  hence  more  port¬ 
able.  Many  of  our  portrait  combinations  are  so  ar¬ 
ranged  that  the  front  lens  can  be  used  singly  for  land¬ 
scapes,  whilst  the  two  are  required  for  portraits.  In 
such  combinations,  the  back  lens  is  not  so  much  re¬ 
garded  as  a  corrector  of  the  front  lens,  but  as  an  addi¬ 
tional  lens  which  shortens  the  focal  length  of  the  com¬ 
bination,  and  hence  produces  a  greater  condensation 
of  light  which  is  capable  of  making  the  photographic 
or  actinic  impression  on  the  prepared  chemicals,  and 
which  a  single  lens  would  be  incapable  of  effecting. 

The  view  lenses  proper  are  found  in  the  market 
under  various  forms;  those  of  Jamin  consist  of  a  single 
combination  of  two  simple  lenses  cemented  together 
with  Canada  balsam.  Several  others  are  of  the  same 
construction.  The  stop  or  diaphragm  is  placed  in 
front  of  the  combination,  and  the  latter  is  generally 
turned  right  round,  so  that  the  lens  which  is  posterior, 
when  it  is  used  in  portraiture,  becomes  placed  in  front 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


51 


for  landscapes.  But,  as  before  remarked,  a  combina¬ 
tion  of  two  lenses  can  never  be  made  to  correct  the 
whole  amount  of  decomposition  of  light;  hence,  such 
view  lenses,  although  in  many  instances  exceedingly 
excellent,  have  not  the  same  reputation  as  combina¬ 
tions  of  three  simple  lenses  so  as  to  form  triplets, 
which,  when  the  formulas  are  properly  calculated,  and 
the  curves  carefully  ground  in  accordance,  can  correct 
the  decomposition  more  effectually  than  a  doublet,  in 
the  ratio  of  two  to  one.  The  simple  lenses  of  such  a 
triplet  may  be  either  cemented  together  as  one  lens, 
or  combined  according  to  some  optical  principle  at 
given  distances  apart.  The  view  lenses  of  Dallmeyer 
and  Boss,  made  in  this  form,  are  equal  in  every  re¬ 
spect  to  the  very  best  in  any  country,  and  by  many 
photographers  they  are  regarded  superior  to  all  others. 

The  Globe  lens  is  a  very  happy  combination  of  two 
pairs  of  compound  meniscuses,  which,  when  mounted, 
are  in  the  form  of  a  globe.  The  stop  is  in  the  middle 
between  the  two  compound  meniscuses.  The  correc¬ 
tions  for  both  the  spherical  and  chromatic  aberrations 
are  nearly  perfect;  and  the  angle  of  view  is  very  large; 
it  is  a  very  favorite  lens  among  our  American  photo¬ 
graphers.  Dallmeyer’s  wide-angle  lens  will  perform 
all  that  the  Globe  lens  can  do,  and  has  the  advantage 
of  using  more  light. 

The  Steinheil  periscopic  lens  is  in  fact  a  Globe  lens, 
consisting,  however,  of  two  simple  meniscuses  of  the 
same  sort  of  glass;  it  is  mounted  like  a  Globe,  with  a 
central  stop.  The  chromatic  correction  is  effected  in  a 
very  curious  way,  which  has  hitherto  not  been  recog¬ 
nized  by  opticians  as  possible.  The  angle  of  view  in 


52 


THE  PHOTOGEAPHEE  S  GUIDE. 


this  combination  is  also  very  large;  but  its  action  is 
said  to  be  very  slow;  and  on  that  account  it  will 
scarcely  ever  compete  with  the  Globe  and  the  Wide- 
Angle  lens. 

The  Orthoscopic  combination  is  another  form  of  lens 
which  may  be  used  for  taking  views.  It  consists  of  two 
combinations  of  two  lenses  each.  The  angle  of  view  of 
this  form  of  lens  is  much  more  contracted  than  that  of 
the  Globe  or  the  Wide-Angle  lenses  of  Boss  and  Dall- 
meyer  ;  it  derives  its  name  from  the  fact,  that  straight 
lines  in  a  chart  or  map  are  exhibited  straight  or  ortho¬ 
scopic  in  the  copy.  But  the  Globe  or  the  Wide-Angle 
lens  will  also  do  this  orthoscopic  work  more  quickly 
and  to  a  greater  extent.  The  optical  construction  be¬ 
tween  the  Globe  and  the  Orthoscopic  lens  is  quite  dif¬ 
ferent;  so  much  so  that  the  former  may  be  said  to  be 
corrected  with  positive  or  convex  lenses  for  both  spher¬ 
ical  and  chromatic  aberration;  whilst  the  latter  is  cor¬ 
rected  with  negative  or  concave  lenses. 

The  lenses  from  abroad  which  have  gained  the  high¬ 
est  reputation  here  are  those  of  Yoigtlander,  Boss, 
Dallmeyer,  and  Jamin;  but  we  do  not  need  any  longer 
to  avail  ourselves  of  foreign  aid  in  this  respect;  the 
portrait  combinations  of  two  or  three  of  our  native  op¬ 
ticians  in  this  country,  for  instance  those  of  Willard  & 
Co.,  Am.  Optical  Co.,  Chapman  &  Wilcox,  and  Koettger 
cannot  be  surpassed  for  accuracy  of  workmanship;  and 
the  Globe  lens  for  copying  and  landscape  operations 
stands  pre-eminent. 

CAMEEAS. 

There  are  various  forms  of  cameras  according  to  the 
purposes  for  which  they  are  intended.  The  requisites 


THE  PHOTOGEAPHEE’s  GUIDE. 


53 


in  a  camera  are  that  it  shall  be  rigid  and  yet  light; 
the  ground  glass  must  be  perpendicular  to  the  opti¬ 
cal  axis  of  the  lens,  and  its  motion  must  be  even 
and  always  remain  perpendicular  to  the  axis.  In 
large  cameras  the  ground  glass  has  two  motions,  a 
quick  and  a  slow  motion,  by  which  the  focussing  can 
be  easily  effected  without  touching  the  lens  itself.  This 
is  convenient.  For  taking  card-pictures  the  camera  is 
generally  constructed  so  as  to  allow  the  plateholder  to 
slide  into  different  positions  by  means  of  which  several 
pictures  of  the  same  sitter  can  be  taken  on  the  same 
plate.  If,  moreover,  there  are  two  or  four  lenses  on 
the  same  camera,  and  the  plateholder  also  slides,  a  still 
larger  number  of  pictures  can  thus  be  taken  at  the 
same  sitting. 

Stereoscopic  cameras  are  always  constructed  for  the 
reception  of  two  lenses  of  equal  power ;  but  with  a 
sliding  plateholder  stereoscopic  negatives  can  be  taken 
with  a  single  lens.  In  this  case,  however,  the  camera 
must  also  be  made  to  slide  into  a  position  two  inches 
and  a  half  either  to  the  right  or  the  left  of  its  first  po¬ 
sition  after  the  first  exposure,  according  to  whether 
the  right  side  picture  was  taken  first,  or  the  left  side 
picture. 

Cameras  are  now  manufactured  with  such  a  degree  of 
perfection,  that  it  is  needless  to  enumerate  the  troubles 
that  photographers  had  to  expect  in  former  times. 

Above  all  things,  however,  ascertain  at  the  outset 
whether  the  ground  glass  and  the  negative  glass  are 
exactly  at  the  same  distance  from  the  lens.  To  do 
this,  put  a  plate  of  flat  glass  into  the  holder  and  draw 
the  slide.  Lay  a  straight  and  flat  ruler  over  the  edges 


54 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


of  the  frame  and  measure  the  height  of  the  upper  side 
of  the  ruler  from  the  surface  of  the  glass  below;  move 
the  ruler  about  over  different  parts  of  the  surface  and 
measure  the  height.  If  this  height  remains  the  same  all 
over  the  surface  of  the  glass  plate,  it  is  an  evidence  that 
the  glass  corners  have  been  accurately  set.  Now  lay 
the  ruler  over  the  frame  of  the  ground  glass,  in  differ¬ 
ent  parts,  and  measure  the  corresponding  height;  if 
these  are  all  the  same,  and  also  correspond  exactly  with 
that  of  the  negative  glass,  the  construction  of  these 
two  parts  is  correct  and  accurate. 

TO  MAKE  THE  ACTINIC  FOCUS  AND  LUMINOUS  FOCUS 
COINCIDENT. 

It  may  happen  that,  however  accurately  the  ground 
glass  and  the  sensitized  plate  may  coincide  in  distance 
from  the  lens,  and  however  correctly  you  may  have 
focussed,  yet  the  picture  on  the  negative  is  not  as  sharp 
as  the  picture  on  the  ground  glass.  This  is  caused  by 
the  non-coincidence  of  the  actinic  focus  and  the  lumin¬ 
ous  focus;  that  is,  the  compound  lens  has  been  either 
over-corrected  or  under-corrected.  If  a  lens  has  been 
perfectly  corrected,  all  the  rays  of  the  spectrum  come 
to  a  focus  at  one  and  the  same  point  ;  in  an  un¬ 
corrected  and  under-corrected  lens,  the  blue,  that  is, 
the  actinic  rays  come  first  to  a  focus;  whereas  in  an 
over-corrected  lens  the  luminous  rays  are  brought  first 
to  focus. 

The  actinic  focus  is*  the  focus  of  the  picture  on 
chemically  prepared  paper. 

The  luminous  focus  is  the  focus  of  the  picture  on 
the  ground  glass.  Hence,  if  the  lens  has  not  been 
sufficiently  corrected,  the  luminous  picture  on  the 


THE  PHOTO  GEAPHEk’s  GUIDE. 


55 


ground  glass  will  be  more  distant  than  the  actinic  pic¬ 
ture  on  the  sensitized  plate;  and  it  remains  for  you  to 
find  out  by  actual  experiment  how  much  the  difference 
of  distance  is.  Put  in  a  piece  of  cardboard  between 
the  edges  of  the  ground  glass  and  the  flange  upon 
which  it  rests,  and  try  if  this  improves  the  picture  on 
the  sensitized  plate  ;  if  this  has  improved  the  result 
but  not  completely  cured  the  defect,  add  another  thick¬ 
ness  of  cardboard  until  you  have  overcome  the  diffi¬ 
culty. 

But  if  the  lens  has  been  over-corrected,  the  ground 
glass  must  be  gradually  sunk  deeper  in  its  frame  until 
the  desired  correction  has  been  attained. 

Secondly,  see  that  there  are  no  pinholes  or  screw- 
holes  by  which  light  can  find  access  into  the  interior 
of  the  camera,  excepting  through  the  lens. 

See,  too,  that  the  spring  valve  of  the  plateholder 
opens  and  closes  accurately  when  the  slide  is  put  in  or 
taken  out. 

Whenever  accessories  have  to  be  taken  together  with 
the  portrait  in  the  picture  the  camera  must  be  hori¬ 
zontal  ;  for  if  it  be  tilted,  perpendicular  objects  are 
tilted  also,  and  will  be  represented  as  such  in  the  pic¬ 
ture.  But  when  the  portrait  alone  is  taken,  it  is  cus¬ 
tomary  to  raise  the  back  of  the  camera,  so  that  the 
lens  is  inclined  downward  in  order  to  look  down  upon 
the  sitter.  In  this  way  a  position  can  be  found  where 
every  part  of  the  model  will  be  nearly  all  in  focus. 

To  focus  with  ease  and  accuracy  it  is  better  to  have 
a  large  opaque  cloth  tacked  to  the  front  frame  of  the 
camera  all  round  the  top  and  the  two  sides,  and  suffi- 


56 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


ciently  long  as  to  coyer  the  head  and  shoulders  of  the 
operator  whilst  he  is  examining  the  picture  on  the 
ground  glass.  A  pair  of  good  spectacles  will  also  be 
found  exceedingly  useful  in  making  the  focus  quite 
sharp.  It  is  customary  to  bring  the  eye  of  the  sitter 
into  accurate  focus.  This  can  easily  be  done,  for 
the  inner  corner  of  the  eyelids  is  a  very  visible 
object. 

See  that  the  head  rest  is  nowhere  visible,  nor  any¬ 
thing  else  that  ought  not  to  be  seen.  Place  the  sitter 
so  that  almost  every  part  of  his  body  is  nearly  at  the 
same  distance  from  the  lens.  To  do  this  the  model 
must  sit  sidewise,  turning  his  head  to  the  front.  Let 
the  position  be  graceful,  easy  and  natural.  If  any 
part,  such  as  the  hand,  or  knee,  etc.,  be  too  much  out 
of  focus,  let  the  position  be  changed  until  the  picture 
is  satisfactory.  Adjust  the  robes,  ribbons,  ringlets, 
etc.,  of  your  sitter,  which  do  not  flow  or  sit  in  artistic 
forms,  and  direct  your  model  to  regard  some  small 
and  easily  seen  object,  by  which  the  eyes  are  in  no  way 
constrained  nor  the  face  forced  into  a  stare.  When  all 
is  thus  adjusted,  put  the  cap  on  the  lens,  remove  the 
ground  glass  and  substitute  the  plateholder  contain¬ 
ing  the  sensitized  plate.  Draw  out  the  slide  and  wait 
a  moment  to  allow  the  camera  to  be  quite  at  rest. 
Your  model  must  now  regard  the  prescribed  object; 
take  off  the  cap  from  the  lens  and  count  the 
seconds. 

It  is  always  an  advantage  to  have  a  clock  furnished 
with  a  seconds’  hand,  in  sight  from  your  present 
position,  so  that  you  have  no  trouble  with  your  watch; 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


57 


and  the  spectacles  that  yon  use  to  focus  with,  had  al¬ 
ways  better  be  left  in  a  given  place  in  or  near  the 
camera,  for  it  is  too  much  trouble  to  put  them  in  your 
pocket  and  then  have  to  take  them  out  again  when 
wanted. 

Close  the  cap  and  the  slide.  Carry  the  plateholder 
into  the  dark  room. 


CHAPTER  YI. 


THE  DARK-ROOM - DEVELOPMENT. 

In  former  times  the  room  in  which  the  pictures 
were  developed,  the  plates  sensitized,  etc.,  was  prop¬ 
erly  called  a  dark-room — it  was  dark,  gloomy  and  dis¬ 
agreeable.  It  is  no  longer  so  now.  From  discoveries 
that  have  been  made,  this  developing  room  may  be  the 
lightest  room  in  the  establishment,  as  long  as  the  light 
is  of  the  proper  color.  Let  the  window  of  the  room 
be  glazed  with  orang-red  colored  glass,  and  in  ad¬ 
dition  fix  up  a  curtain  of  thin  red  woolen  cloth  or 
flannel.  The  light  that  passes  through  this  window 
exercises  no  action  upon  the  sensitized  plate;  you  may 
develop  the  plate  in  front  of  this  window  without  any 
danger  of  fogging  the  impression.  But  be  sure  to 
shut  up  every  avenue  to  white  light;  the  smallest  beam 
of  this  light  is  detrimental  to  your  success;  the  light 
that  comes  through  the  keyhole  is  injurious. 

This  room  ought  to  be  called  the  non-actinic  room, 
because  the  light  with  which  it  is  suffused  is  non- 
actinic,  which  means,  that  it  has  no  action  on  pre¬ 
pared  chemicals. 

It  is  well  to  try  the  efficacy  of  your  non-actinic 
room  by  experiment.  Sensitize,  therefore,  a  collodion- 
ized  plate,  and  then  expose  it  to  the  light  which  en¬ 
ters  through  the  orange-red  window  for  two  or  three 
minutes.  Pour  on  the  developer  in  the  usual  way.  If 
the  plate  does  not  change  color  in  the  least,  it  is  an 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


59 


evidence  that  actinic  light,  at  least,  has  not  made  any 
impression  upon  it,  and  you  may  then,  with  full  con¬ 
fidence,  afterward  perform  all  your  developing  opera¬ 
tions  with  ease  and  certainty. 

To  facilitate  the  operation  still  further,  we  always 
prefer  developing  by  the  aid  of  a  light  which  comes 
from  below,  and  thus  shows  the  progress  of  develop¬ 
ment  by  transmitted  light.  For  this  purpose  let  the 
developing  corner  or  table  be  a  projection  beyond  the 
wall  of  the  building,  and  let  a  large  square  of  non- 
actinic  glass  be  glazed  in  an  aperture  on  the  top  of 
this  table;  this  pane  can  admit  light  only  from  below 
upward. 

During  development  the  plate,  whether  large  or 
small,  may  be  held,  it  is  true,  between  the  thumb  and 
finger,  but  it  is  much  easier  to  hold  it  supported  on  a 
pneumatic  plateholder.  In  this  position  you  can  cover 
the  plate  with  the  developing  solution  with  the  utmost 
facility.  It  requires  some  experience  before  you  can 
flow  the  developer  evenly  without  any  stoppage  or  in¬ 
terruption;  the  operation  must  be  quick,  and  yet  it 
must  not  be  violent,  otherwise  much  of  the  developer 
will  rush  off  at  the  opposite  side,  and  carry  with  it 
much  of  the  free  nitrate  of  silver  which  was  still  on 
the  plate,  and  which  is  so  very  beneficial  in  producing 
intensity.  If  the  ^developer  proceed  slowly  over  the 
exposed  film,  the  development  will  be  uneven,  one 
part  being  already  out  before  the  other  has  com¬ 
menced.  If  the  developer  stop  and  refuse  to  proceed 
in  a  given  direction,  there  will  assuredly  be  found  in 
the  finished  negative  a  dark  line  or  curve  at  that 
place,  which  will  be  very  offensive  in  the  print. 


60 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


Furthermore,  if  the  developer  be  poured  from  a 
great  height  (and  we  regard  two  or  three  inches  high 
in  this  experiment),  its  momentum  the  moment  it 
comes  in  contact  with  the  collodion  is  sufficient  to 
wash  off  the  impressed  silver  from  this  part,  and  to 
produce,  in  consequence,  a  very  weak  patch  at  this 
spot.  To  avoid  all  these  troubles,  and  especially  with 
a  large  plate,  we  prefer  laying  it  at  the  bottom  of  a 
dish  of  gutta-percha  at  one  end.  In  this  case,  the  dish 
being  slightly  tilted,  the  developer  can  be  poured  into 
the  opposite  end  in  sufficient  quantity  to  cover  the 
plate  the  moment  it  is  again  raised  to  a  horizontal  po¬ 
sition  or  tilted  in  the  opposite  direction.  This  is  a  very 
effectual  plan  of  development,  and,  especially  so,  if  the 
dish  has  a  transparent  bottom,  for  then  you  can  watch 
the  development  by  transmitted  light. 

A  transparent  developing  dish  is  constructed  in  the 
following  manner  :  Take  a  thin  piece  of  hard  and  well 
dried  wood,  four  or  five  feet  in  length,  one  inch  wide, 
and  half  an  inch  thick,  and  plane  a  groove  along  the 
middle  about  three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  deep,  suffi¬ 
ciently  large  to  allow  the  edge  of  an  ordinary  pane  of 
glass  to  slide  along  it.  Four  lengths  are  then  cut  out 
so  as  to  make  a  rectangular  frame,  the  ends  being  cut 
in  a  miter-box  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees.  A  pane 
of  glass  is  then  tightly  framed  in  the  groove;  and  the 
frame  is  firmly  nailed  together.  After  this  is  done,  a 
cement  consisting  of  five  parts  of  resin,  one  part  of 
beeswax,  and  one  of  red  ocher  are  melted  together, 
and  when  fluid  a  sufficient  quantity  is  poured  along 
each  seam  or  groove  all  round  on  either  side,  and 
along  all  the  corners.  After  the  cement  has  set,  the 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER  S  GUIDE. 


61 


excess  is  pared  off  and  polished  down  smooth  with  a 
red  hot  pointed  piece  of  metal.  The  frame  is  finally 
covered  with  a  coat  of  varnish,  made  by  dissolving 
sealing  wax  in  alcohol,  in  a  teacnp,  over  the  stove. 
Coach  or  any  other  varnish  will  answer  the  purpose.  We 
have  a  set  of  such  frames,  of  different  sizes,  for  the  dif¬ 
ferent  sized  plates  in  use.  Each  transparent  plate  is  at 
least  two  inches  longer  than  the  plate  to  be  developed; 
the  excess  of  length  is  the  part  which  is  to  receive  the 
force  of  the  developing  fluid  as  it  falls  out  of  the  vial 
which  contains  it.  If  the  plates  to  be  developed  are 
very  large,  the  dish  that  is  to  hold  them  may  be  con¬ 
structed  so  as  to  have  two  projecting  handles,  either 
screwed  on  to  the  ends  of  two  parallel  sides,  or  formed 
out  of  these  two  sides  themselves,  which  are  left  pro¬ 
jecting  some  four  or  five  inches  beyond  the  ends.  The 
dish  and  plate  are  then  easily  supported  by  the  two 
hands,  whilst  an  assistant  pours  on  the  developer. 


3 


CHAPTER  VII. 


DEVELOPERS - INTENSIFIERS. 

The  image  on,  or  in  the  collodion  film,  after  ex¬ 
posure,^  a  latent  or  invisible  picture  of  the  object  upon 
which  you  focussed;  by  the  application  of  certain 
chemical  solutions  to  the  collodion  film,  the  image,  be¬ 
fore  latent,  gradually  emerges  from  its  prison-hold 
into  being.  Such  chemical  solutions  are  called  devel¬ 
opers;  these  act  like  all  other  chemical  substances 
that  produce  reductions  or  decompositions.  Thus,  if 
we  add  a  solution  of  iodide  of  potassium  to  another  of 
bichloride  of  mercury,  a  color,  a  beautiful  scarlet  color, 
starts  out  from  the  previously  transparent  and  colorless 
fluids;  we  have  no  power,  no  knowledge  whatever,  that 
will  enable  us  to  tell  a  priori,  the  result  of  the  admixture 
of  two  unknown  solutions  simply  from  their  appearances, 
but  if  we  know  the  solutions  we  do  know  with  accu¬ 
racy  the  result  of  such  an  admixture,  because  this  re¬ 
sult  is  simply  that  derived  from  previous  experimenta¬ 
tion.  But,  notwithstanding  a  very  extensive  accumu¬ 
lation  of  facts,  we  are  still  in  utter  ignorance,  and 
probably  shall  for  ever  remain  so,  as  to  the  true 
cause  of  chemical  action;  why,  for  instance,  the  salts  of 
the  protoxide  of  iron  are  green,  whilst  those  of  the 
peroxide  are  red;  why  hydrosulphuric  acid  produces, 
yellow  precipitates  with  a  salt  of  cadmium  or  of 
arsenic,  an  orange-red  precipitates  with  antimony,  and 
a  black  one  with  so  many  of  the  salts  of  other  metals. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


63 


We  do  not  know  wliat  the  precise  action  is;  be  it 
the  result  of  electricity,  of  light,  of  heat,  of  gravity, 
which  institutes  some  physical  change  in  the  ultimate 
atoms  or  molecules  that  constitute  the  new  compound. 
And  just  as  ignorant  are  we,  for  the  experiments  are 
very  similar,  of  the  rationale  of  the  development  of 
the  latent  photographic  image.  We  know  simply  that 
a  protosalt  of  iron,  as  well  as  other  chemical  substan¬ 
ces,  has  the  property  of  reducing  the  salts  of  silver 
and  of  gold  to  the  metallic  state,  and  that,  if  the  pro¬ 
tosalt  contain  at  the  same  time  some  organic  material 
in  admixture,  the  reduction  will  be  complex,  partly 
reguline  and  partly  a  compound;  and  we  know  fur¬ 
thermore,  or  suppose,  at  least,  that  light  institutes 
some  peculiar  physical  changes  in  the  silver  solutions, 
whereby  they  become  predisposed  to  undergo  this  re¬ 
duction  on  the  application  of  the  reducing  agent. 
This  is  the  extent  of  our  theoretic  knowledge  at 
present.  Here  we  stop  on  this  subject,  and  proceed 
at  once  to  the  mode  of  developing  a  negative. 

Prepare  in  the  first  place  the  following  solution : 

DEVELOPER. 


Protosulphate  of  iron  -  -  -  1  ounce. 

Kain  water  -  -  -  -  -  16  ounces. 

Acetic,  acid  -  -  -  -  -  3  “ 

Alcohol  -  -  -  -  -  1J  “ 

Pulverize  the  salt,  mix  it  intimately  with  the  liquids 
until  dissolved,  then  filter  and  preserve  in  a  stoppered 
bottle  for  use. 

We  give  the  above  formula  in  preference  to  any  of 
the  more  modern  formulas  which  contain  more  or  less 


64 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


of  gelatine,  which  is  twofold  in  its  action :  it  modifies 
the  color  of  the  developed  image  and  acts  at  the  same 
time  like  an  acid  in  restraining  the  development. 

The  developer  being  poured  upon  the  plate  carefully 
and  quickly  so  as  to  cover  the  whole  of  its  surface  al¬ 
most  instantaneously,  and  still  retaining  whatever 
silver  solution  may  have  remained  on  its  surface,  you 
keep  the  plate  in  motion  so  as  to  mix  up  the  developer 
thoroughly  and  to  cover  every  part  of  the  collodion 
film.  If  the  picture  starts  out  almost  at  once,  the  plate 
has  been  exposed  too  long;  on  the  contrary,  if  a  min¬ 
ute  or  half  a  minute  expires  before  any  change  is  pro¬ 
duced  on  the  film,  the  exposure  has  been  too  short.  If 
the  change,  of  which  we  speak,  begins  the  moment  the 
developer  comes  in  contact  with  the  collodion,  and 
continues  slowly  but  distinctly,  the  exposure  has  been 
about  right. 

The  great  art  of  development  is  twofold  :  it  consists 
in  knowing  when  to  stop,  and  to  stop  in  all  cases  be¬ 
fore  or  as  soon  as  fogging  commences.  Fogging  is  the 
reduction  of  the  silver  solution  into  the  reguline  con¬ 
dition  even  where  light  has  not  acted,  thus  producing 
a  veil  on  the  parts  that  ought  to  be  transparent.  It 
will  frequently  take  place  when  all  the  solutions  are 
freshly  prepared.  Any  saccharine  or  gelatinous  sub¬ 
stance  mixed  with  these  solutions,  that  is,  with  either 
the  silver  bath  or  the  developer,  has  a  tendency  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  silver  from  being  reduced  in  those  parts  upon 
which  light  has  not  acted.  Acids  have  also  the  same 
effect ;  it  is  on  this  account  that  acetic  acid  is  found  in 
the  developer,  and  nitric  acid  in  the  silver  solution. 
Much  of  the  troublesome  effects  of  fogging,  too,  may 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE.  65 

be  avoided  by  understanding  the  extent  to  which  the 
plate  may  be  sensitized,  and  also  by  covering  the  plate 
with  a  substratum  of  albumen  as  recommended  in  a 
previous  chapter. 

For  instance,  as  an  experiment,  drop  a  little  of  the 
bath  solution  upon  a  plain  glass  surface,  and  add  to  it 
a  little  of  the  developer,  the  experiment  being  per¬ 
formed  in  the  dark  room  ;  reguline  silver  soon  begins 
to  make  its  appearance  on  the  surface  of  the  glass,  and 
thus  to  destroy  its  transparency.  This  is  an  example 
of  pure  fogging.  But  if  the  glass  has  been  previously 
albumenized,  the  same  amount  of  fogging  will  not  take 
place,  the  albumen  prevents  the  silver  reduction,  or  at 
least  restrains  it.  You  see  then  one  of  the  benefits  of 
coating  the  plates  with  albumen  previously  to  coating 
them  with  collodion. 

It  would  appear  from  this  circumstance  that  the 
naked  glass  surface  has  a  tendency  to  institute  the 
silver  reduction,  the  moment  the  developer  comes  in 
contact  with  it  ;  and  hence  it  may  be  inferred,  that  if 
we  can  prevent  the  solutions  from  coming  in  contact 
with  the  glass  surface,  we  shall  at  the  same  time 
restrain  reduction  and  consequently  fogging.  This 
analysis  of  the  subject  teaches  us  how  long  to  sensitize 
the  plate.  As  soon  as  the  collodionized  plate  is  im¬ 
mersed  in  the  bath  the  nitrate  of  silver  solution  begins 
to  permeate  the  collodion  film,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  produce  by  double  decomposition  the  iodide  and 
bromide  of  silver  on  the  surface  and  in  the  substance 
of  the  collodion.  This  decomposition  is  made  mani¬ 
fest  to  the  eye  by  gradual  whitening  of  the  film.  Nat¬ 
urally  the  front  surface  of  the  collodion  film  becomes 


66 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


first  white,  then  the  middle,  and  finally  the  whole  film 
to  the  glass  is  of  a  cream-white.  But  by  a  careful  ob¬ 
servation  you  may  hit  upon  the  exact  time  when  the 
outer  or  front  surface  of  the  collodion  film  is  cream¬ 
like  in  color,  whilst  the  back  surface,  or  the  surface 
which  is  next  the  glass  is  of  a  slight  bluish  tinge.  This 
indicates  that  the  silver  solution  has  just  permeated 
the  film  as  far  as  the  glass.  Now  is  the  time  to  take 
the  plate  out  of  the  bath  and  to  expose  it ;  that  is,  to 
expose  it  before  all  the  soluble  iodides  and  bromides 
are  decomposed.  These  lie  between  the  free  nitrate  of 
silver  and  the  surface  of  glass,  and  thus  prevent  or  re¬ 
strain  the  reduction  of  the  silver  salt  into  pure  silver; 
they  prevent  fogging.  But  should  fogging  take  place 
before  the  picture  is  thoroughly  developed,  or,  at 
least,  before  the  shadows  are  sufficiently  opaque,  your 
best  plan  will  be  to  wash  the  plate  immediately  and 
then  to  fix  the  image  and  deepen  the  intensity  after¬ 
ward  by  what  is  called  redevelopment  or  intensification. 

Another  method  of  proceeding  in  such  a  case  con¬ 
sists  in  washing  the  plate  thoroughly,  then  in  pouring 
over  it  a  dilute  solution  of  either  bromide  or  iodide  of 
potassium,  and  allowing  it  to  remain  on  the  surface  a 
short  time.  Naturally  such  a  solution  decomposes  all 
free  nitrate  of  silver  in  the  collodion  film,  and  free  ni¬ 
trate  of  silver  is  the  main  condition  of  fogging.  Now 
this  being,  removed,  wash  the  plate  again,  and  pour  the 
developer  again  upon  the  plate  and  watch  proceedings. 
Gradually  all  the  detail  of  the  picture  is  brought  out, 
and  the  picture  apparently  is  complete,  regarded  simply 
as  a  picture,  but  the  lights,  shades,  and  middle  tones 
are  all  there  in  regular  gradation ;  but  as  a  photogra- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


67 


phic  negative  it  is  yet  incomplete;  the  opaque  or  dark 
parts  are  not  yet  sufficiently  dense.  Hold  up  the  ne¬ 
gative  and  place  your  fingers  between  the  negative  and 
the  light  ;  if  they  are  distinctly  visible  through  the 
shadows  of  the  negative,  the  latter  are  not  yet  dense 
enough.  You  must  proceed  with  the  development. 
Previously  pour  off  the  old  developer,  wash  the  film 
and  then  flow  it  quickly  with  the  following  solution: 

Nitrate  of  silver  -  -  -  -  36  grains. 

Rain  water  3  ounces. 

Pour  away  all  excess  of  the  silver  solution  from  one 
corner,  and  then  cover  the  film  with  fresh  developer. 
This  proceeding  will  seldom  fail  to  make  the  shadows 
sufficiently  opaque  for  the  printing  operation.  Take 
the  plate  out  to  the  light,  hold  it  up  to  a  tree,  and  see 
if  the  leaves  are  visible  through  the  dense  shades;  if 
not,  the  development  has  proceeded  far  enough.  The 
plate  may  now  be  thoroughly  washed  and  immersed  in 
the  fixing  bath. 

But  should  it  happen  that  the  development  cannot 
be  carried  on  to  its  completion  without  fogging  being 
the  result,  wash  the  film  and  fix  the  image,  which  is 
supposed  in  other  respects  to  be  perfect,  and  is  only 
lacking  in  intensity. 

FIXING  SOLUTION. 

Cyanide  of  potassium  -  4  drachms. 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  10  ounces. 

Pour  the  solution  over  the  plate  and  keep  it  in  motion; 
th  e  yellow  and  cream-like  parts  will  soon  become  trans¬ 
parent,  and  the  picture  will  now  appear  much  more 
beautiful  than  before.  As  soon  as  all  the  unaltered 


G8 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


iodides  and  bromides  bave  been  dissolved  by  the  fixing 
solution,  wash  the  plate  on  both  sides  and  until  every 
trace  of  the  cyanide  has  been  removed. 

This  washing,  like  all  the  preceding  operations  of 
the  same  nature,  may  be  performed  at  a  jet  of  water 
issuing  from  a  tap  at  the  end  of  a  water-pipe  inserted 
in  a  barrel,  or  being  the  termination  of  the  ingress  of 
water  from  the  public  water  works.  There  is  no  danger 
of  the  collodion  film  being  torn  off  the  plate  by  means 
of  the  current  of  water  if  the  surface  of  the  plate  has 
been  previously  albumenized  ;  but  the  film  may  easily 
slide  off,  if  there  has  been  no  substratum,  by  the  ma¬ 
nipulations  of  a  novice,  but  not  so  in  the  hands  of  an 
experienced  operator.  Of  course  your  aim  will  be  to 
learn  by  experience  and  finally  to  become  perfect  in 
this  beautiful  art. 

INTENSIFICATION  AND  TONING  OF  THE  IMAGE. 

Supposing  that  the  picture  possesses  all  the  detail 
and  gradations  required,  but  that  the  shades  are  not 
sufficiently  dense,  you  may  flow  the  plate  whilst  the 
film  is  still  moist  with  the  following  solution  : 

Terchloride  of  gold  -  -  -  2  grains. 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  4  ounces. 

Whilst  the  negative  is  still  moist  pour  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  the  above  solution  over  the  film  as  to  cover 
it  quickly ;  the  tone  will  change  very  rapidly  becoming 
more  of  a  blue-black  ;  if  kept  on,  however,  too  long  a 
retrograde  action  sets  in,  and  the  tone  gradually  be¬ 
comes  fainter.  Watch  the  opportunity  when  the  whole 
picture  has  assumed  its  first  bright  blue-black  tone; 
then  pour  the  excess  of  gold  solution  back  again  into 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


69 


the  stock  bottle.  This  solution  soon  becomes  ex¬ 
hausted,  which  is  easily  known  by  the  disappearance 
of  the  yellow  color  of  the  terchloride,  and  must  then 
be  replenished  with  some  fresh  salt.  The  double  salt 
of  gold  and  sodium,  or  gold  and  potassium  is  well 
adapted,  but  not  that  of  gold  and  lime. 

Wash  the  negative  and  place  it  upon  a  leveling- 
stand  with  water  on  its  surface. 

The  following  stock  solution  is  next  required  : 

Fill  a  four  ounce  vial  with  rain  water  and  throw  into 
it  an  ounce  or  more  of  bichloride  of  mercury,  shake 
the  mixture  well  and  set  it  aside  to  dissolve;  take  care 
to  keep  at  the  bottom  of  the  bottle  some  of  the  un¬ 
dissolved  salt,  by  which  you  recognize  that  the  solution 
is  concentrated.  Label  the  bottle:  Concentrated  Stock 
Solution  of  Bichloride  of  Mercury.  Place  side  by  side 
with  this  a  bottle  of  acetic  acid.  These  two  stock  so¬ 
lutions  are  required  to  make  the  following  mixture  for 
present  use : 

Concentrated  solution  of  bichlo¬ 
ride  of  mercury  -  -  -  1  drachm. 

Acetic  acid  -  -  -  -  1  “ 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  6  drachms. 

This  mixture  is  now  poured  upon  the  moist  plate; 
hold  the  latter  in  such  a  position  as  to  let  the  light 
pass  through  it  from  beneath;  you  can  then  easily  ob¬ 
serve  the  gradual  darkening  of  the  film,  and  stop  the 
action  when  the  intensity  is  satisfactory.  By  this 
means  you  can  get  any  amount  of  opacity  in  the 
shades,  and  the  tone  of  the  negative  is  very  pleasing 
to  behold. 


3* 


70 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


The  only  disadvantage  it  possesses,  is  the  expense  of 
the  gold  solution;  after  all,  this  is  a  subordinate  con¬ 
sideration,  as  long  as  the  work  is  good.  Should  the 
expense  be  an  objection  to  the  above  intensifying  pro¬ 
cess,  we  give  the  following  which  we  formerly  prac¬ 
ticed  and  have  found  quite  reliable.  Make  the  follow¬ 
ing  stock  solution: 

TINCTURE  OF  IODINE. 

Stock  Solution. 

Iodine  -  -  -  -  -  40  grains. 

Alcohol  -----  1  ounce. 

SOLUTION  OF  IODINE  FOR  PRESENT  USE. 

Of  the  stock  solution  -  -  10  minims. 

Water  -----  1  ounce. 

Where  it  is  convenient,  take  the  moist  negative  and, 
holding  it  where  the  sun  can  shine  upon  it,  pour  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  the  Present  use  solution  all  over 
the  film,  and  oscillate  the  plate  so  as  to  keep  the  solu¬ 
tion  in  motion.  The  tone  of  the  negative  will  soon  as¬ 
sume  a  faint  rose  color,  whilst  the  solution  itself  has 
gradually  lost  all  its  color,  the  iodine  having  been 
taken  up  by  the  silver  in  the  shades  of  the  picture.  It 
is  better  to  have  the  Present  use  solution  quite  dilute 
in  order  that  the  deposit  may  be  free  from  granulation. 
Wash  the  plate  and  place  it  on  the  leveling-stand. 
Prepare  the  two  following  stock  solutions  : 

STOCK  SOLUTION  OF  PYROGALLIC  ACID. 

Pyrogallic  acid  -  -  -  -  24  grains. 

Acetic  acid  2  ounces. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


71 


STOCK  SOLUTION  OF  NITRATE  OF  SILVER. 

Nitrate  of  silver  -  -  -  60  grains. 

Rain  water  2  ounces. 

Now  take  of  the  first  solution  half  a  drachm,  water  four 
drachms,  and  mix  with  this  solution  two  or  three  drops 
of  the  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver.  Add  as  little  silver 
as  possible,  as  long  as  the  solution  gradually  increases 
the  opacity  of  the  shades,  when  poured  upon  the  ne¬ 
gative  ;  for  a  rapid  action  can  easily  be  instituted, 
but  the  deposit  will  be  pulverulent  and  gritty.  The 
slower  the  action,  the  more  uniform  and  smooth 
the  film  becomes.  As  soon  as  the  proper  amount  of 
intensity  has  thus  been  obtained,  the  negative  is  very 
thoroughly  washed  and  then  placed  on  the  leveling- 
stand  for  the  subsequent  operations. 


CHAPTER  Yin. 


TO  VARNISH  NEGATIVES,  AND  TO  PREPARE  NEGATIVES  FOR  THE 
SOLAR  CAMERA,  AND  FOR  COPYING  WITH  THE  CAMERA. 

We  have  now  described  the  method  by  which  a  good 
negative  can  be  prepared  for  the  ordinary  printing 
operations  upon  paper.  The  only  thing  that  now  re¬ 
mains  to  be  done  with  this  negative,  is  to  coat  it  with 
some  varnish  or  other  preservative  material,  by  which 
the  film  is  protected  from  injury  in  the  subsequent 
manipulations.  Most  of  the  varnishes  in  the  market 
become  tacky  when  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun  during  the  hot  days  of  Summer;  the  paper  then 
adheres  to  the  collodion  film  in  patches,  and  tears  them 
off  when  it  is  removed  from  the  plate.  But  a  film  of 
albumen  is  free  from  this  trouble,  and  we  recommend 
it  as  a  very  practical  and  reliable  mode  of  coating 
negatives.  A  single  coating  in  general  is  sufficient; 
but  two  coatings  are  better. 

Separate  the  whites  from  a  number  of  eggs,  and 
beat  them  up  well.  Then  make  the  following  mix¬ 
ture  : 

The  white  of  egg,  well  beaten  -  10  ounces. 

Distilled,  or  pure  rain  water  -  5  “ 

Ammonia  -  -  -  -  -  1  drachm. 

Pour  a  sufficient  quantity  of  this  solution  upon  the  moist 
film  of  the  negative,  so  as  to  cover  it  completely;  remove 
any  particle  of  dust  or  other  concrete  substance  by  means 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


73 


of  a  comer  of  a  piece  of  paper,  and  then  allow  the  excess 
of  albumen  to  drain  off.  The  plate  is  now  put  away 
on  the  drying-rack  to  dry.  When  dry  the  film  may  be 
coated  a  second  time,  if  this  operation  be  deemed  ne¬ 
cessary,  taking  care  to  pour  the  albumen  upon  the  end 
of  the  plate  opposite  to  that  on  which  it  was  poured 
the  first  time,  and  to  place  the  plate  on  the  drying-rack, 
also,  in  an  inverted  position. 

The  albumen  solution,  above  prescribed,  will  keep 
for  an  indefinite  time. 

VARNISH  FOR  NEGATIVES. 

Some  may  object  to  this  mode  of  protecting  the  col¬ 
lodion  film,  and  prefer  keeping  to  the  old  system  of 
coating  the  film  with  varnish;  we,  therefore,  give  a 
single  formula  for  preparing  a  suitable  varnish  for  the 
purpose. 

VARNISH  TO  BE  USED  ON  THE  COLD  DRY  PLATE. 

Gum  sandarac  2  ounces. 

Oil  of  lavender  -  -  -  1  “ 

Alcohol . 14  “ 

Chloroform  3  drachms. 

Allow  the  materials  to  digest  in  a  warm  place;  when 
the  gum  is  dissolved,  the  clear  portion  may  be  decanted 
off  for  use  when  required. 

This  varnish  is  poured  upon  the  negative  in  the  same 
manner  as  collodion,  the  excess  being  allowed  to  drain 
back  into  the  stock  bottle;  remove  all  particles  of  dust, 
and  then  rear  the  negative  away  on  the  drying-rack  to 
dry. 


74 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


The  negative  is  now  complete  and  ready  to  be  hand¬ 
ed  over  to  the  printer;  bnt  before  we  proceed  to  give 
instructions  about  printing,  it  is  our  duty  to  describe 
how  to  prepare  negatives  suitable  for  camera  printing 
or  printing  with  the  solar  camera;  this  sort  of  print¬ 
ing  is  quite  distinct  from  what  is  denominated  contact 
printing,  and  requires  a  negative  considerably  differ¬ 
ent  from  that  which  we  have  just  described. 

SOLAR  CAMERA  NEGATIVE. 

Take  the  thinnest  plate  glass  compatible  with  the 
manipulations  which  it  has  to  undergo ;  coat  it  as  usual 
with  a  very  thin  film  of  albumen,  taking,  for  in¬ 
stance,  one  ounce  of  the  stock  albumen  solution 
as  given  in  this  chapter,  and  diluting  it  with  eight 
ounces  of  water.  Filter  the  solution.  Be  exceedingly 
careful  to  get  an  even  film,  perfectly  free  from  the 
slightest  particle  of  dust  or  insoluble  material.  Put 
the  plate  away  to  dry  in  a  clean  place  where  there  is 
no  dust  stirring. 

COLLODION  FOR  A  SOLAR  CAMERA  NEGATIVE. 

Take  the  collodion  as  prepared  by  one  of  the 
preceding  formulas  according  as  it  is  for  in  door 
or  out  door  work,  and  dilute  it  in  the  following  man¬ 
ner: 


Bromo-iodized  collodion  - 

-  1  ounce. 

Alcohol  - 

-  4  drachms. 

Ether  - 

-  4  drachms. 

This  collodion,  of  course,  will  be  very  thin  and  can 
be  flowed  over  the  plate  without  producing  the  slight¬ 
est  reticulation. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


75 


The  film  is  sensitized  in  the  usual  way  and  in  the 
ordinary  silver  bath  in  every  day  use.  Expose  the 
plate  somewhat  longer  than  you  would  for  a  negative 
for  contact  printing;  that  is,  the  exposure  must  be  com¬ 
plete;  for  an  under-exposed  plate  is  not  to  be  thought 
of  in  solar  camera  operations. 

How  are  you  to  know  when  a  plate  is  under-exposed 
or  over-exposed  ? 

Take,  for  instance,  a  picture  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
its  branches  and  leaves.  If  the  plate  be  under-exposed, 
you  will  get  no  detail,  none  of  those  beautiful  indenta¬ 
tions,  rough  prominences  and  peculiar  markings  on  the 
bark,  which  are  as  characteristic  of  the  tree  as  the  dif¬ 
ferent  forms  of  wool  and  hair  are  to  the  animal;  you 
will  obtain,  also,  none  of  the  nerves  and  fibers  that 
distinguish  the  leaves.  Your  negative  will  present,  de¬ 
velop  as  long  as  you  like,  nothing  but  outlines  of  the 
trunk,  branches  and  leaves  of  the  tree  in  the  midst  of 
thick  darkness — your  negative  is  totally  devoid  of  de¬ 
tail. 

An  over-exposed  plate,  on  the  contrary,  goes  too 
much  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  the  development 
is  so  rapid  that  the  detail  of  the  indentations,  promin¬ 
ences,  markings,  etc.,  becomes  soon  annihilated  by 
being  clogged  up  with  too  much  deposit,  and  all  the 
diversity  of  light  and  shade  is  finally  indistinguishable; 
the  picture  is  one  mass  of  fogginess,  like  a  meadow 
covered  with  mud  after  a  freshet — it  is  all  mud. 

The  middle  way  between  these  two  extremes  is  the 
one  we  take  or  strive  to  get  into  when  we  expose  pro¬ 
perly;  but  for  our  present  purpose,  it  is  better  to 
slightly  over-expose  than  under-expose,  because  our 


76 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


object  is  to  get  all  the  detail  rapidly,  so  as  to  preserve 
the  negative  quite  thin  in  the  shades. 

The  same  developer  may  be  used  as  before  recom¬ 
mended,  adding  a  drop  of  nitric  acid  to  each  ounce  of 
the  developer.  As  soon  as  the  picture  is  thoroughly 
out  in  detail  everywhere,  wash  the  negative  immediate¬ 
ly,  for  a  step  further  is  always  an  injury  to  the  work¬ 
ing  qualities  of  the  plate;  avoid  making  the  shades 
opaque. 

Your  negative,  if  right,  will  be  a  sort  of  phantom 
negative,  constructed  upon  gossamer,  very  thin,  finely 
delineated,  and  very  beautiful.  Wash  it  well,  and  put 
it  away  on  the  drying-rack  to  dry.  Negatives  for  the 
solar  camera  must  not  be  varnished;  in  fact,  there  is 
no  need  of  any  varnish,  for  the  film  is  not  subjected  to 
any  hard  usage;  but  it  must  be  kept  thoroughly  out  of 
the  dust. 

Whilst  developing  and  washing  a  negative  it  is  ad¬ 
visable  to  receive  all  the  wash  water  in  an  appropriate 
vessel  beneath;  from  time  to  time  a  handful  of  salt  is 
thrown  into  the  fluid  at  the  bottom  which  converts  the 
soluble  nitrate  of  silver  of  the  washings  into  an  insol¬ 
uble  powder,  which  will  gradually  accumulate  at  the 
bottom.  There  will  be  in  addition  a  quantity  of  pure 
silver  mixed  with  it,  produced  by  the  action  of  the 
protosulphate  of  iron  on  the  free  nitrate  of  silver  on 
each  plate.  At  a  distance  of  five  or  six  inches  from  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel  there  is  an  outlet  pipe  into  the 
sink  which  carries  away  all  excess  of  fluid.  This  pipe 
can  be  opened  and  closed  at  will  by  means  of  a  stop¬ 
cock.  It  is  well  to  keep  it  closed  during  the  operation 
of  development;  that  is,  in  the  daytime  in  order  to  al- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


77 


low  the  requisite  decompositions  to  be  effected  by  the 
salt  solution,  as  also  during  the  night  in  order  that  the 
insoluble  chloride  of  silver  and  the  reduced  silver  may 
settle  to  the  bottom.  Early  in  the  morning  and  before 
operations  commence  the  stop-cock  is  then  opened  and 
the  surplus  water  is  allowed  to  flow  away.  The  pipe 
is  again  closed,  and  a  little  more  fresh  salt  is  thrown 
into  the  vessel.  If  you  are  doing  an  extensive  busi¬ 
ness  you  will  be  surprised  how  much  silver  you  have 
thus  saved  by  the  end  of  the  year. 

Negatives  for  making  transparent  positives,  such  as 
glass  stereographs,  which  are  so  universally  and  deser¬ 
vedly  admired,  and  negatives  for  making  opal  or  por¬ 
celain  pictures  by  means  of  the  copying  camera,  are  all 
prepared  in  the  same  way  as  those  for  the  solar  cam¬ 
era.  You  may,  it  is  true,  obtain  positives  from  your 
ordinary  negatives,  but  they  will  be  far  from  satisfac¬ 
tory;  they  will  in  general  be  mere  black  and  white 
daubs;  there  will  be  no,  or  seldom  any,  detail. 

We  apply  this  mode  of  preparing  negatives  for  copy¬ 
ing  purposes  to  the  preparation  of  transparent  posi¬ 
tives  for  producing  enlarged  negatives.  Thus,  for  in¬ 
stance,  a  properly  prepared  quarter-sized  negative  of 
some  choice  landscape,  taken  on  the  spot  with  the  di¬ 
lute  collodion,  is  placed  in  the  copying  camera,  and  a 
plate  coated  with  dilute  collodion  is  placed  at  the  op¬ 
posite  end  of  this  camera  to  receive  the  impression, 
which,  of  course,  will  be  a  transparent  positive.  Fol¬ 
low  the  rules  above  given  and  give  rather  more  than 
the  full  exposure  and  stop  the  development  the  mo¬ 
ment  all  detail  is  visible.  Wash  and  fix  with  cyanide 
of  potassium  in  the  usual  way.  Finally,  wash  thor- 


78 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


oughly  and  dry  the  positive.  This  positive,  if  carefully 
prepared,  will  be  sharp,  semi-transparent,  bright  look¬ 
ing,  and  full  of  all  the  minute  delineations  of  the  orig¬ 
inal  from  which  the  negative  was  taken,  and,  if  also 
carefully  preserved,  will  be  the  nucleus  or  model  from 
which  any  amount  of  negatives  may  subsequently  be 
taken,  of  the  same  size  or  of  any  given  size  required. 
There  is  no  branch  of  photography  that  tests  the  skill 
of  the  operator,  and  the  perfection  of  the  lens  more 
than  this  sort  of  reduplication;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
there  is  none  which  is  more  interesting  and  remuner¬ 
ative. 

Suppose  now  we  wish  a  negative  of  the  landscape 
above  mentioned  and  of  which  we  took  a  quarter-sized 
negative  for  copying  purposes;  all  we  have  to  do  is 
place  the  small  transparent  positive  in  the  copying 
camera  and  to  arrange  the  conjugate  foci  by  means  of 
the  two  sliding  bellows  so  that  the  picture  on  the 
ground  glass  is  of  the  size  required.  A  globe  lens,  or 
one  of  Dallmeyer’s  lenses,  is  the  most  appropriate  for 
the  purpose.  If  you  wish  a  negative  for  ordinary 
printing  operations,  you  must  use  the  undiluted  collo¬ 
dion  and  pursue  the  common  routine  of  development. 
You  can,  we  maintain,  in  this  way  get  an  enlarged  ne¬ 
gative  as  good  as  if  you  were  to  take  an  original  ne¬ 
gative  of  this  size  on  the  spot;  in  fact,  it  is  possible, 
you  may  get  a  superior  negative,  because  of  the  troubles 
always  arising  out  of  the  transportation  of  a  tent,  etc., 
for  work  of  this  size. 

Before  we  leave  this  subject  of  the  wet  negative  and 
its  development,  we  may  put  in  a  few  remarks  about 
the  fixing  solutions.  In  many  large  establishments 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


79 


the  negative  is  fixed  in  a  solution  of  hyposulphite  of 
soda,  and  a  large  bath,  holding  two  or  three  gallons  of 
the  fluid,  is  always  kept  in  readiness. 

FIXING  SOLUTION  WITH  HYPOSULPHITE  OF  SODA. 

Hyposulphite  of  soda  -  -  -  2  lb. 

Rain  water  -  -  -  -  2  gallons. 

Fresh  hyposulphite  can  be  added  to  the  bath  every  two 
or  three  days;  and  it  will  be  well  to  filter  the  solution 
at  least  once  a  week,  and  at  the  same  time  to  collect 
the  deposit,  which  is  a  sulphide  of  silver,  as  a  separate 
silver  residue  for  reduction.  This  bath  is  very  con¬ 
venient  in  a  gallery,  for  the  negative  can  be  left  in  it 
for  a  long  time  without  being  materially  injured;  but 
from  our  experience  both  in  opal  printing  by  the  wet 
process,  as  well  as  in  the  fixing  of  dry  plates,  we  are 
convinced  that  an  old  and  much  used  fixing  solution  is 
frequently  the  cause  of  much  fogging  and  stains  on  the 
plate,  and  we  therefore  prefer  a  fresh  solution  for  each 
plate;  and  we  furthermore  prefer  fixing  with  cyanide 
of  potassium,  to  fixing  with  hyposulphite  of  soda,  al¬ 
though  the  former  is  a  very  poisonous  material  and 
acts  with  so  much  energy  as  to  obliterate  the  picture 
itself,  unless  great  care  be  employed  in  its  use.  The 
poisonous  effects  can  be  entirely  avoided  by  using  the 
pneumatic  holder  for  developing  and  fixing,  etc.,  the 
plate;  and  a  quick  eye  can  designate  the  exact  moment 
when  to  stop  the  fixing;  the  operation  is  quick  and 
effectual. 

Pyrogallic  acid  is  also  used  sometimes  for  develop¬ 
ing  the  image;  it  is  an  excellent  developer  and  pro¬ 
duces  a  very  beautiful  picture,  but  its  action  is  not  so 


80 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


rapid  as  the  iron  developer.  The  deposit  on  the  plate 
is  of  a  different  nature  from  that  produced  by  the  iron 
salt,  being  a  compound  silver  salt  containing  organic 
matter,  whilst  that  from  the  iron  solution  is  mostly  re¬ 
duced  silver.  The  exposure  must  be  longer  with  py- 
rogallic  acid  than  with  the  iron  salt. 

PYROGALLIC  ACID  DEVELOPER. 

Pyrogallic  acid  -  -  -  12  to  18  grains. 

Acetic  acid  1  ounce. 

Water  7  ounces. 

In  Winter  as  much  as  eighteen  grains  may  be  used 
to  the  ounce  of  acetic  acid,  whilst  in  Summer  twelve 
grains  will  be  found  quite  sufficient. 

We  cannot  leave  this  subject  without  adverting  to 
the  excellent  developer  with  gelatine  and  protosulphate 
of  iron,  the  discovery  of  M.  Carey  Lea,  Esq.,  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  so  much  that  is  valuable  in  photo¬ 
graphy.  His  formula  is  as  follows  : 

COLLO-PROTOSULPHATE  OF  IRON  DEVELOPER. 

“  Add  an  ounce  of  sulphuric  acid  to  three  ounces  of 
water,  and  set  aside  to  cool.  Then  add  to  this  liquid 
an  ounce  of  good  gelatine;  let  it  swell  and  dissolve, 
placing  it  for  that  purpose  in  a  slightly  warm  place, 
not  exceeding  blood  heat,  for  twenty-four  hours.  Then 
add  iron  filings  in  excess,  avoiding  all  application  of 
heat;  let  it  stand  for  several  days.  Finally,  add  half  a 
drachm  of  acetate  of  soda  and  filter.  Dilute  the  solu¬ 
tion  to  fifteen  ounces.” 

Many  modifications  have  been  made  of  this  formula 
but  with  very  slight  emendations,  if  any.  With  a 
proper  length  of  exposure  the  picture  can  be  developed 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


81 


to  the  requisite  intensity  without  any  other  aid.  If 
photographers  were  patient  chemical  manipulators 
they  would  always  use  this  developer  or  some  modifi¬ 
cation  of  it;  we  ourselves  never  think  of  using  any 
other,  and  yet  we  have  not  recommended  it  as  the  de¬ 
veloper  proper  for  the  operator,  because — because  he 
would  blunder  somewhere  in  its  preparation,  fail  to  get 
good  results,  and  condemn  both  us  and  the  ferro-gela- 
tine  developer  to  the  abode  of  Hades,  literally,  the 
Kingdom  of  Darkness. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 


THE  PRINT - HOW  TO  MAKE  IT. 

The  operator  might  as  well  pick  rags,  tear  them  into 
fibers,  make  them  into  pulp  and  finally  convert  them 
into  paper,  as  to  put  himself  to  the  trouble  of  prepar¬ 
ing  his  own  albumen  paper.  This  is  now  a  business  of 
itself,  and  it  is  fortunate  that  it  is  so;  for  it  is  quite  a 
bore  and  an  expense  to  prepare  any  chemical  or  me¬ 
chanical  article  in  small  quantities  for  home  consump¬ 
tion. 

Nevertheless,  we  will  tell  our  readers  how  the  paper 
may  be  prepared.  The  paper  suitable  for  photogra¬ 
phic  purposes  must  be  quite  uniform  in  texture, 
smooth  on  the  surface,  perfectly  white,  free  from  all 
metallic  salts,  and  as  far  as  possible  impermeable  to 
fluids.  It  is  to  be  hoped  our  paper  manufacturers  will 
experiment  to  a  greater  extent  than  they  have  done, 
so  as  to  attain  to  this  impermeability  without  at  the 
same  time  impairing  the  flexibility  of  the  paper.  The 
requisite  paper  being  on  hand,  the  next  thing  is  to 
sensitize  it  for  photographic  purposes.  The  ordinary 
process  consists  in  mixing  the  chemical  ingredients 
with  a  solution  of  albumen,  and  then  to  let  the  sheets 
of  paper  float  on  this  solution  for  about  three  minutes, 
after  which  they  are  taken  out  and  hung  up  to  dry. 

If  we  had  to  prepare  photographic  paper,  we  would 
do  it  in  the  following  manner  : 

The  paper  should  first  be  floated  on  a  solution  of 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


83 


gelatine  of  the  proper  consistence,  hung  up  and  dried. 

Secondly,  each  sheet  should  be  passed  between  a 
pair  of  rollers,  on  a  highly  polished  plate  of  steel,  in 
order  to  fill  up  the  pores  of  the  paper  with  the  gelatine. 

Thirdly,  let  each  sheet  float  about  three  minutes  on 
a  solution  of  alum  which  converts  the  gelatine  into  a 
sort  of  leather,  rendering  it  insoluble,  and,  to  a  much 
greater  extent  than  before,  impermeable  to  fluids. 

These  three  operations  are  quite  preparatory  to  the 
really  photographic  part  of  the  business.  The  sheets 
when  dry  are  now  ready  to  be  floated  on  the  prepared 
albumen. 

Take  the  whites  of  any  number  of  fresh  eggs  and 
beat  them  up  for  a  long  time,  that  is  for  an  hour  or 
two  so  as  to  disintegrate  the  substance,  and  break  up 
its  adhesion.  Allow  the  albumen  to  settle.  Then  pre¬ 
pare  a  mixture  according  to  the  following  formula  : 

Clear  albumen  -  -  -  20  ounces. 

Distilled  water  -  -  6  K 

Ammonia  2  drachms. 

Chloride  of  ammonium  -  6  “ 

Instead  of  the  chloride  of  ammonium,  the  same 
amount  of  chloride  of  sodium,  or  of  the  chloride  of 
barium  may  be  used.  Beat  the  solution  again  well  to¬ 
gether,  or  shake  it  well  up  in  a  bottle  ;  after  subsidence 
the  clear  portion  is  poured  into  a  large  flat  bath.  The 
paper,  prepared  as  above  directed,  are  floated  on  the 
gelatine  side  next  to  the  albumen;  each  is  left  for  three 
minutes  on  this  solution,  taking  care  previously  to 
break  up  all  bubbles  with  a  glass  rod.  The  sheets  are 
then  taken  out  and  hung  up  to  dry  in  a  room  quite 


84 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


free  from  dust.  When  dry,  two  sheets  placed  back  to 
back  are  put  between  two  highly  polished  plates  of 
steel  and  passed  between  rollers,  and  then  packed  away 
for  sale  or  use. 

The  film  of  albumen  contains  a  soluble  chloride, 
which,  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  nitrate  of  silver, 
is  converted  into  chloride  of  silver,  a  salt  which  is  very 
sensitive  to  light. 

Albumen  paper  must  be  kept  in  a  dry  place,  other¬ 
wise  it  is  liable  to  change.  The  different  tones  in 
samples  of  albumen  paper  manufactured  by  different 
houses,  arises  in  a  great  measure  from  the  chloride 
which  is  used;  thus,  chloride  of  ammonium  communi¬ 
cates  to  the  print,  when  it  leaves  the  printing-frame  a 
reddish  tone,  whilst  the  salt  of  sodium  or  of  barium 
inclines  more  to  the  black.  This  difference  of  color, 
however,  in  the  original  print,  is  not  of  material  con¬ 
sequence,  since,  by  toning  afterward  in  the  gold  solu¬ 
tion,  the  final  hue  is  the  same  or  nearly  the  same, 
whatever  chloride  was  used  in  the  preparation  of  the 
paper. 

SENSITIZING  OF  ALBUMEN  PAPER. 

The  soluble  chloride  in  the  albumen  paper  must  first 
be  changed  into  the  insoluble  chloride  of  silver,  before 
the  paper  is  ready  for  receiving  any  impression  from 
light.  For  this  purpose  we  again  require,  as  in  the 
preparation  of  the  negative,  a  silver  bath.  The  vessel 
which  contains  the  silver  solution  is  a  flat  dish  of  pho¬ 
tographic  ware,  porcelain,  glass,  or  varnished  wood. 
Large  porcelain  dishes  are  made  on  purpose  to  receive 
the  silver  solution ;  but  owing  to  the  expense  some 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


85 


photographers  construct  wooden  dishes  of  thin  dry 
wood,  which  answer  the  purpose  quite  well.  Along 
the  edges  they  pour  a  melted  solution  of  wax  and  resin, 
or  a  solution  of  sealing  wax  or  lac  in  alcohol.  The 
latter  solution  is  the  better  of  the  two  and  is  easily 
made.  A  proper  quantity  of  sealing  wax  is  broken  up 
into  pieces,  and  put  into  a  teacup  containing  alcohol; 
the  cup  is  then  placed  on  the  stove  and  stirred  about 
until  the  solution  is  made.  A  proper  quantity  of  this 
solution  is  poured  along  the  edges  and  seams,  and  is 
rubbed  quickly  in  by  means  of  a  brush.  This  cement 
soon  dries.  The  solution  may  afterward  be  consider¬ 
ably  diluted  and  used  as  a  final  varnish  to  the  inside 
and  outside.  The  inside  will  require  two  or  three 
coats  of  varnish  in  order  to  render  the  wood  water¬ 
tight. 

SENSITIZING  SOLUTION. 

Nitrate  of  silver  2  ounces. 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  14  “ 

Alcohol . 1  “ 

This  bath  contains  about  sixty  grains  of  nitrate  of 
silver  to  the  ounce  of  the  solution.  The  intention  of 
the  alcohol  is  to  prevent  blistering  in  the  albumen 
film,  and  consequently  where  there  is  no  such  tendency 
the  alcohol  may  be  omitted.  A  small  quantity  (about 
a  drachm)  can  be  added  to  the  bath  every  time  you 
are  about  to  sensitize  a  fresh  quantity  of  paper;  at  the 
same  time  you  may  also  add  a  drachm  or  two  of  crys¬ 
tals  of  nitrate  of  silver.  This  bath  is  placed  in  the 
non-actinic  room  in  a  convenient  position  near  a 
wooden  partition;  near  the  bath  and  along  the  parti¬ 
tion  an  inclined  gutter  is  constructed  of  well  varnished 
4 


86 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


tin  plate,  and  so  placed  as  to  allow  any  fluid  that  drops 
into  it  to  drain  into  the  silver  bath. 

The  sheets  of  albumen  paper  are  sensitized  in  the 
following  manner  :  The  four  corners  of  each  sheet  are. 
bent  from  the  albumen  side  back  to  the  extent  of  half 
an  inch,  thus  forming  four  vertical  projections,  by 
which  the  sheet  can  be  seized  by  two  opposite  corners 
diagonally.  When  so  held,  and  the  hands  are  brought 
slightly  nearer  together  than  the  width  between  the 
two  corners,  it  is  evident  the  middle  parts  of  the  sheet 
will  hang  down.  The  albumen  surface  is  below  and  is 
convex.  In  this  position  the  sheet  is  lowered  upon 
the  silver  solution,  which  has  just  previously  been  fil¬ 
tered,  the  middle  part  thus  coming  into  contact  with 
the  fluid  first,  the  two  sides  are  gradually  let  down, 
until  the  whole  sheet  lies  flat  upon  the  solution.  By 
this  means  you  avoid  the  production  of  bubbles.  Still 
it  is  always  better  to  be  quite  certain  as  to  this  head; 
raise  each  corner,  therefore,  separately  by  one  of  the 
four  ears,  and  examine  the  parts  for  bubbles;  if  there 
are  any  they  must  be  broken  up  by  means  of  a  glass 
rod  kept  close  by  for  the  purpose.  If  the  paper  is  apt 
to  cockle  or  refuse  to  lie  down  upon  the  solution, 
breathe  upon  the  back  part,  it  will  immediately  yield 
to  the  impression  of  the  moist  breath  and  fall  down. 
As  soon  as  the  sheet  is  all  right  and  every  where  in 
contact  with  the  nitrate  of  silver,  you  may  allow  it  to 
remain  for  one  minute ;  after  which  you  raise  one  of 
the  corners  by  means  of  a  piece  of  strong  silver  wire, 
and  then  lift  the  sheet  gradually  up  from  the  fluid,  and 
you  then  pin  it  or  otherwise  attach  it  by  clamps  to  the 
wooden  partition  behind,  and  just  so  high  as  to  allow 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


87 


the  lowest  diagonal  corner  to  drain  into  the  bath 
which  lies  close  to  the  partition.  When  the  sheet  is 
large  or  of  the  full  size,  it  is  well  to  pin  the  two  upper 
corners  and  one  of  the  lower  corners  to  the  partition, 
but  still  so  that  the  sheet  hangs  as  it  would  do,  if  sup¬ 
ported  only  by  one  corner.  The  lowest  corner  is  not 
pinned,  but  dips  over  the  side  of  the  bath. 

Another  sheet  is  now  placed  upon  the  sensitizing  so¬ 
lution  in  the  same  way;  and  the  excess  of  silver  solu¬ 
tion  from  the  first  sheet  having  drained  off  by  this 
time,  this  sheet  is  now  transferred  to  another  position 
on  the  partition,  where  the  lowest  corner  can  just  hang 
over  the  gutter  at  its  farthest  extremity.  Here  it  is 
left  to  dry  completely.  The  second  sheet  takes  its 
place  after  draining,  as  before,  next  in  order  to  the 
first;  and  so  you  proceed  to  the  last  sheet.  If  a  drop 
of  silver  solution  still  adheres  to  the  lowest  corner  of 
each  sheet,  remove  it  with  a  bit  of  blotting  paper. 

Old  filtering  paper,  through  which  solutions  of  silver 
have  passed,  pieces  of  blotting  paper  used  for  this  pur¬ 
pose  above  mentioned,  spoiled  sheets  of  sensitized 
paper,  clippings  of  prints,  in  fine,  any  paper  whatever 
which  contains  stains  of  silver,  have  to  be  preserved  in 
a  large  chest  or  barrel  kept  for  the  purpose;  in  a 
short  time  we  will  tell  you  what  to  do  with  them. 

As  soon  as  you  have  done  sensitizing  the  paper  for 
the  day,  empty  the  silver  solution  into  the  stock  bottle. 
At  the  bottom  of  this  bottle  we  always  keep  a  layer  of 
chloride  of  silver,  and  the  stock  bottle  itself  retains  its 
position  in  the  dark-room.  The  chloride  of  silver  is 
obtained  from  an  old  silver  bath  by  throwing  into  it  a 
solution  of  common  salt,  as  long  as  any  white  precipi- 


88 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


tate  is  produced.  The  vessel  is  then  set  aside  for  an 
hour  or  so  in  the  dark-room,  after  which  the  super¬ 
natant  solution  is  easily  separated  by  decantation  from 
the  residue  beneath.  After  which  the  chloride  is 
washed  with  pure  water  by  shaking  and  again  allowed 
to  subside;  the  operation  of  decantation  and  washing 
is  performed  twice;  all  the  water  is  finally  poured  off 
and  the  sensitizing  solution  may  then  be  poured  upon 
it  and  kept  there  until  again  required  for  use. 

The  object  in  view  by  keeping  the  silver  solution  in 
contact  with  chloride  of  silver  is  to  keep  the  sensitizing 
fluid  always  colorless,  a  method  which  has  answered 
our  purpose  exceedingly  well.  When  the  chloride  it¬ 
self  becomes  colored,  dry  it  and  preserve  it  for  reduc¬ 
tion  with  other  silver  residues  at  the  proper  time. 

When  the  sensitized  sheets  are  'perfectly  dry,  they 
may  be  submitted  or  not  submitted  to  the  fumes  of 
ammonia,  just  as  you  feel  inclined  about  the  matter. 
The  advantage  of  fuming  is,  after  all,  not  very  great; 
and  the  finished  print  is  equally  good  whether  the  sen¬ 
sitized  paper  was  fumed  or  not.  Paper  that  has  been 
fumed  is  probably  more  sensitive,  and  thus  requires 
less  exposure.  The  simply  sensitized  paper,  when  dry, 
may  be  preserved  for  some  time  without  changing 
color,  or  deteriorating;  but  if  it  has  been  once  fumed 
it  soon  becomes  yellow ;  the  fuming,  therefore,  must 
take  place  only  a  short  time  before  the  paper  is  re¬ 
quired  for  printing. 

FUMING  OF  SENSITIZED  PAPER. 

This  is  a  very  simple  operation.  A  large  cupboard 
may  be  made  out  of  a  drygood’s  box  by  placing  it  on 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


89 


one  end  and  fixing  it  on  a  frame  as  high  as  the  knees, 
or  about  two  feet  high.  The  lid  is  fixed  on  hinges  so 
as  to  open  sidewise.  The  sheets  of  sensitized  paper 
are  then  fastened  with  a  pin  at  each  corner  around  the 
three  sides  and  on  the  door  or  lid,  as  also  on  the  up¬ 
per  end,  taking  care  in  every  case  that  the  albumen 
film  looks  outward.  At  the  bottom  of  the  box  a  saucer 
is  placed;  into  this  saucer,  after  it  has  been  made 
warm  over  the  stove  or  a  spirit  lamp,  a  few  drachms  of 
ammonia  are  poured;  and  the  door  is  then  closed. 
The  ammonia  soon  evaporates  and  comes  intimately  in 
contact  with  the  albumenized  surface.  In  ten  minutes 
or  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  door  is  opened  and  the 
sheets  are  taken  out  and  hung  up  to  air  in  the  dark 
room,  of  course.  They  are  then  ready  for  use. 

THE  PRINTING  OPERATION. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  printing-frames  in  the 
market ;  and  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  say  which  is  the 
best  for  general  purposes.  Some  of  them  have  special 
advantages  for  vignetting  which  the  others  do  not  pos¬ 
sess;  and  in  this  case  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in 
making  the  appropriate  selection.  Since  you  will  re¬ 
quire  a  number  of  printing-frames,  especially  for  card- 
pictures,  you  will  do  well  to  get  one  of  each  different 
make  and  then  select  that  which  suits  you  best,  before 
you  purchase  a  complete  outfit. 

The  negative  is  placed  in  the  printing-frame,  collo¬ 
dion  side  uppermost;  the  sensitive  paper  of  the  proper 
size  is  then  placed  upon  the  negative,  so  that  the  col¬ 
lodion  film  of  the  negative  and  the  albumen  film  of  the 
paper  lie  in  contact;  over  the  paper  comes  a  piece  of 


90 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


soft  cloth,  either  loose  or  attached  to  the  spring  back 
which  is  pressed  down  tightly  so  as  to  keep  the  paper 
in  close  apposition  with  the  negative,  and  fixed  there. 
The  printing-frame  is  then  turned  up  and  placed  so 
that  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  or  diffused  light  can 
pass  through  the  negative  to  the  paper. 

By  means  of  the  folding  door  at  the  back  of  the 
frame  you  can,  from  time  to  time,  examine  the  progress 
of  the  actinic  impression ;  this  examination  must  take 
place,  however,  in  very  subdued  light,  otherwise  the 
purity  of  the  whites  would  be  injured.  Very  soon  the 
picture  will  appear  quite  perfect  as  a  picture,  but  it  is 
not  yet  perfect  for  the  purposes  intended;  you  must 
over-print,  print  until  the  shades  begin  to  be  bronzed 
by  the  action  of  the  light,  and  the  whites  are  no  longer 
quite  white.  The  prints  are  then  taken  out  and  stored 
away  in  a  drawer  or  between  the  leaves  of  a  book  until 
you  have  finished  printing  for  the  day  or  for  the  oc¬ 
casion. 

The  next  operation  is  performed  in  a  very  weak  light 
or  in  the  non-actinic  room.  It  consists  in  cutting  the 
prints  to  the  proper  size  for  mounting.  For  card-pic¬ 
tures  there  are  punches  and  machines  that  do  the 
work  very  effectually  and  quickly.  The  one  made  by 
Wm.  B.  Holmes,  Broadway,  is  excellent.  If  you  have 
neither  a  punch  nor  a  machine,  the  next  best  is  to  cut 
out  a  piece  of  glass  of  the  required  shape  and  size,  and 
then  to  grind  the  edges  perfectly  smooth  and  even. 
You  may  then  place  this  piece  of  glass  on  the  print, 
and  holding  them  firmly  together  in  the  left  hand,  you 
may  easily  clip  the  edges  off  with  a  pair  of  long  scissors 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


91 


all  round  tlie  glass;  this  is  the  easiest  process  next  to 
that  with  the  machine. 

Another  method  is  to  lay  the  print  on  a  sheet  of 
plate  glass,  and  to  place  the  glass  form  over  it ;  you 
may  then  proceed  round  the  edges  of  the  glass  with  a 
sharp-pointed  penknife  and  cut  of  the  edges  of  the 
paper  as  you  proceed.  For  such  work  as  this  it  is 
well  to  have  a  table  so  constructed  that  the  top  can  re¬ 
volve  on  a  pivot  like  a  potter’s  table.  So  provided  you 
can  easily  keep  your  fingers  firmly  fixed  on  the  glass 
form  and,  at  the  same  time,  revolve  the  table  so  as  to 
bring  each  side  of  the  glass  into  an  easy  position  so  as 
to  make  the  next  incision  in  succession. 

Similar  glass  forms  are  used  for  stereoscopic  and 
other  prints  of  a  small  size  ;  but  larger  prints  may  be 
cut  out  with  a  square  to  the  size  desired. 

AH  the  clippings  are  preserved  in  the  chest  or  barrel 
above  mentioned. 

"We  prefer  cutting  the  prints  out  at  this  early  stage, 
because  we  save  a  large  amount  of  gold  in  the  toning 
operation,  by  simply  toning  no  more  than  is  needed. 
This  is  quite  an  important  precaution,  whose  value  you 
will  soon  learn  to  recognize. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  next  operation  in  succes¬ 
sion.  The  cut  prints  are  all  thrown  into  a  vessel  of 
pure  rain,  or  well  water,  in  which  they  are  kept  in 
motion  in  order  to  facilitate  the  separation  of  all  the 
free  nitrate  of  silver;  the  sole  object  of  the  washing  is 
to  do  this.  Where  the  convenience  exists,  a  stream  of 
running  water  is  allowed  to  flow  over  them;  but  where 
it  does  not  exist,  the  prints  are  transferred  to  another 
vessel  of  pure  water,  whilst  the  water  in  the  first  vessel 


92 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


is  allowed  to  enter  by  means  of  a  pipe  and  tap  into 
another  containing  a  solution  of  salt.  The  nitrate  of 
silver  is  thus  converted  into  the  insoluble  chloride 
where  it  is  afterward  collected  either  by  filtration  or 
subsidence.  The  water  from  the  second  vessel,  con¬ 
taining  the  prints,  also  enters  the  one  which  contains 
the  solution  of  salt,  in  order  to  collect  what  little  ni¬ 
trate  of  silver  may  still  have  remained  in  the  prints 
after  the  first  washing.  After  the  prints  have  thus 
been  thoroughly  washed,  of  course  in  the  dark-room, 
they  are  transferred  to  the  toning  bath,  which  is  a 
large  flat  dish  sufficiently  capacious  to  hold  the  ordin¬ 
ary  quantity  printed  in  your  establishment. 

The  toning  solution  consists  essentially  of  the  ter- 
chloride  of  gold;  all  other  substances  are  secondary  in 
importance;  and  the  terchloride  of  gold  is  an  article 
which  you  can  seldom  obtain  in  a  pure  form,  or  in  an 
invariable  form.  It  is  sold  in  general  as  a  double  salt, 
either  the  double  chloride  of  gold  and  sodium,  of  gold 
and  potassium,  or  of  gold  and  calcium.  If  you  deal 
with  only  one  photographic  establishment,  you  may, 
probably,  always  obtain  the  same  sort  of  gold  salt,  and 
thus  produce  in  general  the  same  uniform  results  every 
time  you  have  to  tone.  This  is  the  only  salt  which  it 
is  well  for  the  photographer  to  prepare  himself ;  for 
then  he  knows  its  composition. 

TO  PREPARE  TERCHLORIDE  OF  GOLD. 

Pure  gold  can  be  obtained  from  the  mint ;  and  fre¬ 
quently  a  sufficient  quantity  of  pure  scraps  of  gold  can 
be  met  with  at  the  dentist’s;  in  case  of  need  the  gold 
coins  of  the  country  may  be  used ;  they  contain,  how- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


93 


ever,  an  alloy  which,  will  detract  in  a  trifling  degree 
from  the  purity  of  the  salt  thus  obtained  and  from  its 
effects  in  toning. 

Make  a  mixture  of  two  ounces  of  hydrochloric  acid 
and  one  of  nitric  acid;  this  forms  what  is  called  aqua 
regia ,  or  royal  water,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  capable  of 
dissolving  the  noble  metals  gold  and  platinum,  which 
are  insoluble  in  either  acid  alone.  The  truth  is  that 
these  metals  are  dissolved  easily  enough  in  chlorine, 
and  it  is  probably  the  chlorine,  which  is  produced  by  the 
mixture  of  the  two  acids,  that  performs  the  operation. 
Place  the  mixed  acids  in  an  evaporating  dish  on  a  water 
bath,  and  throw  a  quantity  of  pure  gold  leaf  and  scraps 
into  the  mixture,  and  keep  adding  as  long  as  they  are 
dissolved;  finally,  with  some  gold  still  remaining  undis¬ 
solved  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  evaporate  the  liquid 
to  dryness,  or  allow  it  to  evaporate  spontaneously  to  dry¬ 
ness  in  a  large  wash-basin  exposed  to  the  sun’s  rays. 
The  solution  must  not  be  evaporated  to  dryness  at  a 
temperature  greater  than  that  of  boiling  water,  other¬ 
wise  the  salt  will  be  decomposed.  As  soon  as  the  salt 
has  thus  been  made  dry  by  either  artificial  or  spon¬ 
taneous  evaporation,  it  is  still  an  acid  salt;  that  is,  it 
contains  still  a  small  quantity  of  free  acid,  which  you 
must  decompose.  Dissolve,  therefore,  the  resulting 
reddish  colored  salt  in  an  ounce  of  water  and  add  to 
it  powdered  chalk  as  long  as  an  effervescence  is  pro¬ 
duced.  As  soon  as  this  ceases,  pour  off  the  liquid  por¬ 
tion  from  any  undissolved  carbonate  of  lime  (chalk), 
and  evaporate  it  to  dryness  again  on  a  water  bath. 
You  have  now  got  the  double  chloride  of  gold  and 
calcium ;  and  if  you  always  prepare  it  by  the  way  pre- 
4* 


94 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


scribed,  it  will  always  bave  the  same  uniform  compo¬ 
sition,  from  which  you  may  reasonably  expect  to  get 
uniform  results  when  toning. 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TONING  BATH. 


The  double  chloride  of  gold  and 
calcium  ----- 
Acetate  of  soda  - 
Water  (one  quart)  - 
Alcohol  - 


4  grains. 


80 


te 


32  ounces. 
1  ounce. 


The  bath  is  best  when  prepared  the  day  before  it  is 
required;  but  it  may  be  used  the  moment  it  is  made. 
More  gold  may  be  added  if  needed,  which  you  will 
have  to  determine  from  the  slowness  of  the  action. 
Warmth  materially  hastens  the  toning  operation. 
Rapid  toning,  however,  is  not  to  be  recommended. 
Keep  the  prints  in  motion,  and  turn  them  round  from 
time  to  time  ;  if  they  are  allowed  to  rest  in  one  place, 
irregular  patches  of  toning  are  apt  to  be  formed,  which 
cannot  be  removed  or  equalized  afterward.  You  will 
gradually  see  the  change  in  tone  as  it  proceeds.  As 
soon  as  the  color  is  a  brilliant  purple,  and  before  the 
slate  blue  sets  in,  remove  each  print  into  a  vessel  of 
pure  water,  until  the  toning  operation  is  complete. 
You  will  naturally  understand  that  the  prints  have  to 
be  washed,  toned,  and  fixed  in  the  non-actinic  room, 
because,  until  they  have  been  fixed,  they  are  still  sen¬ 
sitive  to  the  action  of  the  light  and  thus  liable  to 
change. 

If  you  aim  to  get  bright,  brilliant,  and  uniformly  well- 
toned  prints  every  time,  it  is  advisable  to  prepare  a 
fresh  toning  bath  for  each  operation  of  toning.  You 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


95 


will  have,  therefore,  to  learn  by  experience  the  quantity 
of  gold  required  for  a  given  number  of  prints,  and  thus 
to  proportion  the  bath  to  the  quantity  of  prints  on  hand. 
After  toning,  the  residual  gold  solution  is  poured  into 
a  vessel  for  the  purpose,  containing  a  solution  of  the 
protosulphate  of  iron,  which  reduces  the  gold  out  of 
the  solution  in  a  pure  metallic  form;  but  the  solution 
contains  in  addition,  nitrate  of  silver,  so  that  the  pre¬ 
cipitate  produced  by  the  protosulphate  of  iron  is  a 
mixture  of  gold  and  silver.  When  the  precipitate  has 
settled,  the  liquid  is  allowed  to  filter  off,  and  the  vessel 
is  then  again  ready  to  receive  the  next  supply. 

After  a  time  the  sediment  is  taken  out,  thoroughly 
washed  in  several  waters,  and  then  treated  as  follows  : 
Pour  upon  the  sediment  a  sufficient  quantity  of  dilute 
nitric  acid  (half  nitric  acid  and  half  water)  so  as  to 
cover  it  well;  then  heat  the  mixture  to  a  boiling  tem¬ 
perature  and  allow  it  to  cool  gradually.  By  this  means 
the  silver  is  dissolved,  but  the  gold  remains  unchanged. 
Separate  the  fluid  portion  from  the  gold  residue  by 
filtration,  and  wash  the  residue  to  remove  every  trace 
of  the  nitrate  of  silver.  Finally,  evaporate  the  liquid 
portion  to  the  crystallizing  point  and  set  it  aside  to 
crystallize,  or  evaporate  it  to  dryness.  The  resulting 
substance  is  either  crystallized  nitrate  of  silver,  or  the 
silver  salt  in  the  amorphous  condition,  either  of  which 
may  be  used  for  the  preparation  of  the  sensitizing  so¬ 
lution  for  papor.  The  gold  may- be  dissolved  again  in 
nitro-hydrochloric  acid  according  to  the  method  pre¬ 
scribed,  and  is  then  ready-  for.  the-  preparation  of  the 
toning  solution. 

The  prints  am  now-  stirred  about  in  the  water,  and 


S6 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


then  transferred  singly  to  the  fixing  bath  which  is 
made  as  follows: 

FIXING  SOLUTION  FOR  PRINTS. 

Hyposulphite  of  soda  6  ounces. 

Water  (one  quart)  -  -  -  32  “ 

Alcohol  -----  1  ounce. 

This  bath  may  be  used  over  and  over  again  ;  but  in 
this  case  more  salt  must  be  added  every  time  the  bath 
has  to  be  used,  and  a  little  alcohol  is  also  added. 
Alcohol  prevents  the  albumen  from  blistering.  It  is 
advisable,  too,  to  filter  the  bath  after  every  operation 
of  fixing  ;  the  residue  that  remains  on  the  filter  is 
chiefly  the  sulphide  of  silver,  which  must  be  preserved 
separately  from  other  silver  residues,  because  it  may  be 
reduced  separately. 

The  prints  are  kept  moving  in  the  fixing  solution  for 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour;  the  tone  of  the  prints 
generally  change  to  a  reddish  hue  when  they  are 
placed  in  this  bath,  but  it  is  again  restored  by  the 
time  the  fixing  is  complete ;  the  white  portions  of  the 
paper,  after  the  tone  has  been  restored,  will  be  quite 
pure,  not  spotted  or  speckled,  when  viewed  by  trans¬ 
mitted  light.  At  this  stage  the  prints  are  removed 
from  the  fixing  solution  and  placed  in  the  washing- 
tank. 

CONSTRUCTION  Qf  THE  WASHING-TANK. 

It  is  supposed  the  operator  is  furnished  with  water 
from  the  water-works,  or  from  a  running  stream.  The 
tank  is  cubical  in  shape  like  a  large  drygood’s  box  ; 
the  water  enters  at  the  bottom.  Along  the  edges  at 
the  bottom  there  is  a  strip  of  wood  fixed,  two  inches 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


97 


liigli  and  one  inch  thich;  this  forms  a  projecting  ledge 
all  around;  on  this  ledge  a  frame  of  wood,  on  which  is 
stretched  an  open  sieve  of  hair  or  wire,  rests.  A  num¬ 
ber  of  prints  are  placed  in  a  single  layer  on  this  sieve ; 
a  second  frame  rests  upon  the  first;  and  the  sieve  of 
the  second  frame  is  also  covered  with  prints;  and  thus 
any  number  of  frames  are  piled  one  over  the  other  un¬ 
til  all  the  prints  are  placed  in  layers  ready  for  wash¬ 
ing.  The  uppermost  frame  is  then  firmly  wedged  in 
its  place  to  prevent  the  others  from  rising  out  of  their 
position.  In  addition  there  is  a  leaden  tube  bent  into 
the  form  of  a  syphon,  one  end  dips  into  the  tank  and 
reaches  to  within  half  an  inch  of  the  bottom,  the  bend 
passes  through  a  hole  in  the  side  of  the  tank,  which 
is  two  inches  from  the  top,  and  made  watertight  by 
stuffing  and  cement.  The  other  leg  of  the  syphon  is 
conducted  into  the  channel  that  carries  away  all  the 
refuse  water  of  the  establishment.  The  diameter 
of  this  pipe  is  larger  than  that  through  which  the 
water  enters,  so  that  when  the  water  reaches  above  the 
lead  of  the  syphon,  the  latter  begins  to  work  and  the 
water  flows  out  of  the  tank  faster  than  it  enters;  in  a 
short  time  the  tank  becomes  quite  empty,  when  the 
syphon  ceases  to  act  until  the  tank  is  again  filled.  This 
mode  of  washing  prints  is  very  effectual,  and  after  they 
have  remained  half  a  day  or  over  night  subjected  to 
this  operation,  all  the  hyposulphite  has  been  thor¬ 
oughly  removed  from  the  prints,  and  then  permanency 
is  thus  assured.  Prints  that  have  been  thus  treated 
manifest  no  change,  no  decay  in  the  space  of  three 
years,  and  we  doubt  not,  they  are,  in  the  common  ac¬ 
ceptation  of  the  term,  quite  permanent. 


98 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


THE  DRYING-FRAME. 

Construct  a  large  rectangular  frame,  like  that  for  a 
swing  looking-glass,  and  cover  it  witli  a  sheet  of  shirt¬ 
ing  or  calico.  Support  it  also  like  a  swing  looking- 
glass  in  a  movable  stand.  This  stand  can  be  carried 
to  any  open  window  or  door,  or  even  into  the  open  air 
when  occasion  requires.  The  swing-frame  is  then  in¬ 
clined  to  receive  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  prints,  which  are  placed  side  by  side  on  the 
cloth  stretched  across.  An  extra  covering  of  net  work 
may  be  stretched  over  the  prints  to  prevent  them  from 
being  carried  away  by  the  wind.  By  this  contrivance 
the  prints  soon  dry  and  are  kept  clean.  They  are  now 
ready  to  be  mounted. 

MOUNTING  OF  PRINTS. 

Make  a  paste  of  starch,  in  sufficient  quantity  for  the 
number  of  prints  to  be  mounted,  in  the  following  man¬ 
ner  :  Beat  ordinary  starch  into  powder  and  then  into  a 
thin  paste  with  a  little  cold  water;  finally,  pour  this 
thin  paste  into  boiling  water,  stirring  the  mixture  well 
all  the  while  and  adding  to  it  until  the  composi¬ 
tion  is  somewhat  thick.  Now  remove  the  vessel  from 
the  fire  or  lamp  and  set  it  aside  to  cool.  When  cool 
it  is  ready  for  use.  Place  the  print  on  its  face  and 
brush  over  the  back  a  sufficient  quantity  of  paste  un¬ 
til  the  paper  lies  flat  and  is  completely  covered.  The 
print  is  now  transferred  to  the  mount  and  pressed 
carefully  and  smoothly  down  in  its  right  position. 
The  mounts,  with  the  prints  on,  are  put  aside  to  dry. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


99 


As  soon  as  tlie  prints  are  dry,  the  mounts  are  passed 
once  or  twice  between  the  rollers,  which  removes  all 
asperities,  and  gives  them  a  complete  finish  as  far  as 
photographic  manipulation  is  concerned. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  NEGATIVE  BY  THE  DRY  PROCESS. 

The  aim  of  the  photographer  has  long  been  directed 
to  discover  some  quick  and  reliable  process  by  which 
plates  can  be  prepared  in  quantity  beforehand,  and 
then  can  be  carried  out  upon  the  field,  exposed  where 
the  landscape  is  attractive,  again  repacked  and  devel¬ 
oped  at  home.  Many  processes  have  thus  been  dis¬ 
covered  which  are,  all  of  them,  reliable  in  a  certain 
sense,  but  few  of  them  are  at  the  same  time  quick. 
The  latter  consideration  is,  however,  of  little  import¬ 
ance,  as  long  as  the  plate  can  be  depended  upon  to 
produce  a  picture  under  the  circumstances  prescribed. 
The  process,  which  seems  to  have  given  more  satisfac¬ 
tion  than  the  rest,  is  that  discovered  by  Major  Russell, 
denominated  the  Tannin  Process.  With  the  alkaline 
development,  too,  it  is  almost  as  rapid  as  the  wet  pro¬ 
cess,  but  with  this  mode  of  development  the  process  is 
not  quite  as  reliable  as  with  the  acid  development. 
Without  any  further  preliminary  we  will  describe  the 
process  as  we  practice  it  ourselves. 

THE  DRY  TANNIN  PROCESS. 

The  plates  are  cleaned  in  the  the  usual  way,  and  if 
they  are  to  be  put  away  in  a  changing  box,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  round  off  the  corners,  otherwise  they 
might  be  obstructed  in  their  passage  in  and  out  of  the 
changing  box  and  plateholder  ;  they  are  coated,  too, 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


101 


with  a  thin  film  of  albumen  in  the  usual  way.  The 
collodion,  containing  more  bromide  than  iodide,  is  ap¬ 
propriate  for  this  sort  of  work;  and  the  bath  may  be 
fifty  or  sixty  grains  strong;  still  there  is  no  absolute 
necessity  to  change  the  bath;  the  one  that  you  use  for 
the  wet  process  will  be  suitable  enough.  Sensitize 
the  plate  in  the  usual  way;  and,  when  the  proper 
cream-like  color  has  been  attained,  take  the  plate  out, 
drain  it  and  place  it  in  a  wash-basin  of  pure  rain 
water,  collodion  film  downward,  until  another  plate  is 
coated  and  put  in  the  silver  bath.  As  soon  as  this 
second  plate  is  in  the  silver  solution,  go  back  to  the 
first  plate,  wash  the  back  of  the  plate,  move  the  plate 
backward  and  forward  with  an  oscillatory  motion,  so 
as  to  get  rid  of  as  much  of  the  free  nitrate  of  silver  as 
possible  by  this  first  washing.  The  plate  is  now  trans¬ 
ferred  to  a  second  wash-basin  of  pure  rain  water, 
where  it  is  again  oscillated  about  and  washed;  it  is 
now  taken  out  and  allowed  to  drain  for  a  moment  and 
then  a  dilute  solution  of  bromide  of  potassium  is 
poured  over  it  once  or  twice,  the  excess  being  returned 
to  the  stock  solution. 

SOLUTION  OF  BROMIDE  OF  POTASSIUM!. 

Bromide  of  potassium  -  -  36  grains. 

Water  _____  3  ounces. 

The  object  gained  by  flowing  the  plate  with  this  so¬ 
lution  is  to  convert  whatever  free  nitrate  of  silver  may 
still  remain  on  the  collodion  film  into  bromide  of  silver; 
any  nitrate  of  silver,  that  might  be  left  in  the  film, 
would  be  detrimental  to  the  good  working  afterward. 
The  plate  is  now  washed  again  $,t  the  tap,  or  in 


102 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


another  wash-basin  of  rain  water  in  order  to  remove 
the  bromide  of  potassium,  and  finally  covered  with 
sufficient  tannin  solution  to  flow  backward  and  forward 
all  over  the  collodion  film. 

TANNIN  SOLUTION. 

Tannin  -  -  -  -  -  150  grains. 

Loaf  sugar,  or  honey  -  -  150  “ 

Water . 10  ounces. 

Alcohol,  sufficient  to  dissolve  the  tannin. 

Measure  out  the  tannin,  and  add  alcohol  until  it  is 
completely  dissolved.  Then  mix  this  solution  with 
the  sugar  and  water  and  filter  through  a  moist  filter. 
The  tannin  solution  is  quickly  prepared  by  the  me¬ 
thod  here  prescribed;  it  must  be  kept  in  a  well-stop¬ 
pered  bottle. 

We  always  use  a  fresh  solution  for  each  plate,  and 
pour  the  residue  or  excess  into  a  vessel  to  receive  it; 
but  the  plate  may  first  be  coated  with  the  tannin  so¬ 
lution  which  has  already  been  once  used,  and  then,  after 
draining,  with  a  small  quantity  of  the  fresh  solution. 
After  draining,  the  plate  is  reared  on  one  corner  on  a 
piece  of  blotting  paper  folded  into  several  folds,  and 
left  to  dry  in  a  dark  cupboard  or  secluded  shelf  free 
from  dust. 

All  these  different  operations  of  washing  and  coating 
the  plate  will  not  require  more  than  two  or  three  min¬ 
utes;  and  by  the  end  of  this  time  the  second  plate  will 
be  sufficiently  sensitized  in  the  silver  bath  to  be  removed 
into  the  first  wash-basin.  These  wash-basins  are  very 
convenient  for  the  washing  purposes,  because  the  plate 
can  rest  on  the  four  corners  on  the  concave  surface  of 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


103 


the  basin  without  any  liability  of  the  film  being  injured 
by  friction.  This  method,  too,  of  preparing  the  tannin 
plate  entails  no  change  or  further  outlay  than  that  re¬ 
quired  in  the  wet  process,  as  far  as  regards  collodion 
and  silver  bath.  The  process  is  easy  and  reliable. 

EXPOSURE  OF  THE  TANNIN  PLATE. 

Tannin  plates,  when  dry,  are  put  into  the  changing 
box;  there  are  two  or  three  forms  of  changing  boxes 
in  the  market,  but  the  one  constructed  by  the  Am. 
Optical  Co.  in  New  York  is,  in  our  opinion,  the  best 
and  most  commodious.  With  a  little  ingenuity  any 
photographer  may  construct  one  for  himself  both 
simple  and  effective  and  at  a  small  cost.  The  inten¬ 
tion  of  the  changing  box  is  to  contain  the  plates  so  that 
light  cannot  reach  them,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  fur¬ 
nish  an  easy  method  of  transferring  them  to  the  plate- 
holder  and  back  again  without  allowing  them  for  a 
moment  to  be  injured  by  any  access  of  light. 

All  that  the  photographer  requires  on  a  photographic 
tour,  becomes  reduced  down  to  the  three  articles: 
camera,  tripod  and  changing  box,  all  of  which  may 
easily  be  carried  in  the  hands,  supposing  that  stereo¬ 
scopic  pictures  have  to  be  taken.  Whenever,  a  charm¬ 
ing  landscape  presents  itself,  the  camera  is  mounted 
upon  the  tripod,  and  the  picture  is  focussed.  A  plate 
is  next  transferred  to  the  plateholder  and  exposed. 

One  pair  of  lenses  which  we  use,  requires  an  exposure 
of  three  seconds  in  a  good  light  to  produce  a  very  satis¬ 
factory  picture ;  with  these  lenses  we  expose  a  dry  plate 
under  the  same  conditions  of  light  for  full  one  minute ; 
that  is,  if  we  develop  the  plate  with  the  acid  devel- 


104 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


oper.  The  exposure,  therefore,  for  a  dry  plate  is  about 
twenty  times  as  long  as  for  a  wet  plate.  Another  pair 
of  lenses,  the  globe  lenses,  produce  a  good  picture  by 
the  wet  process  in  five  seconds;  and  by  the  dry  pro¬ 
cess  we  expose  about  a  minute  and  a  half.  The  ratio 
in  this  case  is  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  ex¬ 
ample.  With  the  alkaline  developer  much  shorter  ex¬ 
posures  would  be  amply  sufficient;  thus  half  the  time 
in  either  case  would  be  quite  sufficient.  In  some  in¬ 
stances  you  will  find  it  necessary  to  make  a  short  ex¬ 
posure,  in  which  case  you  make  a  note  of  the  fact  in 
your  note  book  and  develop  accordingly  with  the  alka¬ 
line  developer.  Most  of  our  Mends,  who  are  success¬ 
ful  workers  with  the  tannin  process,  decidedly  prefer 
the  acid  developer ;  we  prefer  it  ourselves. 

ACID  DEVELOPER  FOR  THE  TANNIN  PLATE. 

Prepare  the  following  stock  solutions: 

No.  1. — Acid,  Pyrogallic. 

Pyrogallic  acid  -  -  -  18  grains. 

Acetic  acid  1  ounce. 

No.  2. — Nitrate  of  Silver  Solution. 

Nitrate  of  silver  -  -  -  30  grains. 

Pain  water  1  ounce. 

When  required  for  use,  make  the  following  mixture : 

For  present  use. 

Of  No.  1  -  12  minims. 

Pain  water  3  drachms. 

Of  No.  2  -  -  -  -  -  3  minims. 

The  collodion  film  is  first  made  wet  with  clean  water, 
and  the  mixture  is  the  then  poured  upon  it  so  as  to 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


105 


cover  it.  If  the  exposure  has  been  right,  the  picture 
will  gradually  begin  to  increase  in  intensity.  Do  not 
hurry  the  development;  let  it  proceed  slowly.  Should 
the  picture  flash  out  very  rapidly,  add  more  acetic  acid 
to  the  developer,  or  prepare  a  new  developer  with  only 
one  drop  of  silver,  and  ten  or  twelve  drops  of  acetic 
acid  to  twelve  minims  of  No.  1,  and  three  drachms  of 
water.  When  the  action  is  slow,  add  more  of  the  silver 
solution.  With  patience  you  get  all  the  intensity  de¬ 
sired.  When  the  picture  is  thoroughly  developed,  it 
has  a  rich,  reddish  tone-,  and  is  quite  intense  in  the 
shades.  Wash  it  well  at  the  tap,  and  fix  the  picture  in 
a  fresh  solution  of  hyposulphite  of  soda  containing  a 
little  alcohol,  which  will  prevent  the  film  from  blister¬ 
ing;  be  careful  to  fix  the  picture  thoroughly ;  then  wash 
with  a  bountiful  supply  of  water,  and  examine  it  now 
in  strong  daylight.  If  you  do  not  like  the  red  tone  in 
the  negative,  it  is  easily  changed  to  a  splendid  purple- 
black,  by  treating  the  film  with  the  gold  solution  and 
afterward  with  the  acid  bichloride  of  mercury,  as  re¬ 
commended  in  a  previous  chapter,  under  the  head 
“  Intensification.”  But  you  will  find  it  more  advan¬ 
tageous  to  leave  the  negative  red,  because  this  color  is, 
comparatively  speaking,  non-actinic. 

If  the  pyrogallic  were  acidified  with  citric  acid,  that 
is,  if  citric  acid  were  substituted  for  acetic  acid  in  all 
the  preceding  manipulation  of  development,  the  finished 
negative  would  have  a  bluish-black  tone  instead  of  the 
reddish  tone ;  and  if  nitric  acid  and  gelatine  were  sub¬ 
stituted,  the  tone  would  be  of  a  grayish-black.  It  is 
thus  evident,  that  the  acid  used  as  restrainer,  modifies 
the  tone  of  the  picture. 


106 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


ALKALINE  DEVELOPER. 

Flow  over  the  exposed  plate  dilute  alcohol,  contain¬ 
ing  equal  portions  of  alcohol  and  water,  and  then  pour 
back  the  excess,  and  wash  off  the  apparent  greasiness 
produced  by  the  alcohol.  Next  pour  over  the  plate  the 
following  solution: 

Carbonate  of  ammonia  1  grain. 

Water  -----  4  drachms. 

Pour  the  solution  back  again  into  the  vial,  and  add  to 
it  four  minims  of  the  following  solution : 

Pyrogallic  acid  -  -  -  30  grains. 

Alcohol  -----  4  drachms. 

Water  -----  4  drachms. 

Shake  the  mixture  well  up,  and  pour  it  again  upon  the 
plate.  The  picture  will  now  soon  begin  to  appear,  and 
will  proceed  until  all  the  detail  is  well  out;  but  develop 
as  long  as  you  like,  the  picture  remains  quite  faint  of 
a  reddish  hue — it  is  a  phantom  picture.  More  of  the 
pyrogallic  acid  will  hasten  the  development  if  the  pic¬ 
ture  is  quite  slow  in  making  its  appearauce. 

The  plate  is  uow  gently  washed  and  flowed  with 
dilute  acetic  acid  to  remove  the  alkali;  and  all  the  in¬ 
tensity  you  desire  may  be  communicated  to  it  by  now 
treating  the  film  with  the  acid  developer  before  given, 
adding  more  of  the  silver  solution  to  get  great  opacity. 
When  the  acid  developer  becomes  red  or  turbid,  it  is 
better  to  prepare  a  fresh  solution,  otherwise  you  might 
produce  stains  or  asperities,  which  can  not  be  removed 
afterward. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


TO  PREPARE  TRANSPARENT  POSITIVES. 

Transparent  positives  are  prepared  upon  glass,  and 
are  positive  pictures  seen  by  transmitted  light;  they 
are  consequently  quite  distinct  from  ambrotypes,  which 
are  also  positives  on  glsss,  but  these,  to  be  seen  by  re¬ 
flected  light,  are,  like  daguerreotypes,  inverted  later¬ 
ally. 

A  transparent  positive  may  be  made  either  in  the 
camera  or  by  contact  printing.  We  have,  consequently, 
two  cases: 

POSITIVE  PRINTING  ON  GLASS  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  CAMERA. 

For  this  sort  of  printing,  a  copying  camera  is  an 
absolute  necessity,  a  sine  qua  non ,  as  the  Professor  of 
Latin  is  always  drumming  into  the  ears  of  his  lay 
brethren. 

Now,  a  copying  is  compound  in  form,  but  yet  a  very 
simple  apparatus.  It  consists,  essentially,  of  two  cam¬ 
eras,  one  finished  with  a  lens,  and  the  other  not;  these 
two  cameras  are  screwed  tightly  together,  endwise,  so 
that  the  bellows  parts  open  in  opposite  directions;  one 
of  these  is  intended  to  receive  the  negative,  and  the 
other  the  sensitized  glass,  which  is  to  receive  the 
actinic  impression  or  the  transparent  positive.  The 
tablets  which  hold  both  the  positive  and  the  negative, 
are  furnished  with  spring  clamps,  either  in  the  cor- 


108 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


ners  or  on  the  sides  which  are  designated  to  hold  the 
respective  glasses  in  their  places. 

As  we  have  already  remarked  in  a  preceding  chapter, 
the  negatives,  which  are  in  the  best  condition  for  such 
like  work  as  here  comprehended,  are  very  thin,  trans¬ 
parent  and  full  of  detail;  we  have  described  how  such 
negatives  have  to  be  prepared.  Place  such  a  negative 
wrong  side  up  in  the  shield,  the  collodion  film  looking 
toward  the  lens;  from  such  an  arrangement  it  is  evi¬ 
dent  the  copy  in  the  conjugate  focus  of  the  camera  will 
be  in  its  true  and  natural  position ;  that  is  not  inverted. 
The  sensitized  is  introduced,  when  ready,  into  the 
opposite  bellows,  with  the  collodion  film  facing  the 
lens. 

The  focussing  requires  more  than  ordinary  care ;  in 
fact,  you  must  be  furnished  with  a  magnifying  lens, 
which  has  already  been  adjusted  in  focus  to  the  ground 
glass  surface,  when  it  fits  in  contact  with  the  back  of 
the  ground  glass  plate.  The  camera  may  be  placed  in 
such  a  direction  as  to  receive  the  full  light  of  the  sun 
upon  the  negative,  both  during  focussing  and  printing. 

With  a  copying  camera  it  is  easy  to  find  the  equiva¬ 
lent  focus  of  your  compound  lens.  We  mean  by  this 
equivalent  value,  the  focal  length  of  a  double  convex 
lens  that  will  produce  a  picture  of  an  object  of  ex¬ 
actly  the  same  size  as  that  produced  by  the  combina¬ 
tion,  when  the  distance  from  the  object  to  the  lens  is 
in  either  case  the  same.  When  two  such  dissimilar 
lenses  thus  produce  the  same  result  as  to  magnitude, 
we  say  they  are  endowed  with  equivalent  foci;  but  the 
optical  center  of  a  double  convex  lens  is  its  geometrical 
center,  and  consequently  is  very  easily  found,  the  mo- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


109 


ment  we  know  the  thickness;  and  the  distance  of  this 
center  from  the  true  burning  point  is  denominated  the 
focal  distance,  this  being  the  focal  distance  of  parallel 
rays,  and  is  likewise  easily  measured  by  a  practical  ex¬ 
periment.  Furthermore,  the  distance  between  the  ob¬ 
ject  (that  is,  the  negative)  and  the  ground  glass,  when 
the  pictures  on  the  negative  and  the  ground  glass  are 
just  of  the  same  size,  is  four  times  the  length  of  the 
focal  distance;  hence,  if  we  focus  the  negative  so  that 
the  picture  on  the  ground  glass  is  accurately  of  the 
same,  and  then  measure  the  distance  between  the  two 
interior  surfaces  of  the  negative  and  of  the  ground  glass, 
and  divide  this  distance  afterward  by  four,  we  obtain 
the  equivalent  focus  of  one  compound  lens. 

Again,  if  the  negative  be  brought  nearer  to  the  lens 
than  twice  the  focal  length  of  the  lens,  the  ground 
glass  will  have  to  retire  from  the  lens  on  the  opposite 
side,  but  not  in  the  same  ratio,  but  with  an  increasing 
velocity;  and  the  picture  produced  by  such  an  arrange¬ 
ment  will  gradually  and  quickly  increase  in  size.  But 
if  you  once  know  the  focal  power  of  the  lens  and,  at 
the  same  time,  you  measure  the  distance  from  the  nega¬ 
tive  to  the  center  of  the  combination,  which  is  an  ap¬ 
proximation  to  the  optical  center,  you  can,  by  calcula¬ 
tion,  tell  the  distance  at  which  the  ground  glass  has  to 
be  placed  in  order  to  produce  a  sharp  picture;  that  is, 
a  picture  in  focus. 

The  formula  by  which  the  calculation  is  to  be  made 
is  as  follows: 

v=f(n+ 1) 
n 


5 


110 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


in  which  v  represents  the  required  distance  of  the 
ground  glass,  f  represents  the  equivalent  focus,  n  the 
number  of  times  the  picture  on  the  ground  glass  is  to 
be  greater  or  less  than  the  object  or  picture  on  the 
negative.  In  plain  arithmetic  add  one  to  the  number 
of  times  the  picture  on  the  ground  glass  is  to  be  greater 
or  less  than  that  on  the  negative;  multiply  this  sum  by 
the  equivalent  focal  length,  and  finally  divide  the  pro¬ 
duct  by  the  number  of  times  the  picture  on  the  ground 
glass  is  greater  or  less  than  that  on  the  negative. 

The  time  of  exposure  in  the  copying  camera  will 
vary  with  the  power  of  the  lens  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  picture.  A  picture  of  the  same  size  as  the  original 
negative,  with  a  one-fourth  compound  lens,  stopped 
down  to  a  circle  of  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  in  the  di¬ 
rect  light  of  the  sun,  will  require  about  ten  or  fifteen 
seconds’  exposure. 

The  collodion,  the  silver  bath,  and  all  other  materials 
used  in  developing  and  fixing  are  the  same  in  this  pro¬ 
cess  as  in  the  ordinary  negative  process.  The  mode 
of  development  is  slightly  modified;  either  the  devel¬ 
opment  must  not  be  carried  on  as  far  as  for  a  negative, 
or  the  developer  must  be  rendered  more  acid;  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  either  of  these  provisoes  is  to  preserve  the  pic¬ 
ture  quite  clear  in  the  fights.  Carey  Lea’s  ferro-gela- 
tine  developer  is  excellent  for  this  purpose. 

Use  fresh  fixing  solution  for  each  plate,  and  wash 
very  thoroughly.  Transparent  positives  require  ton¬ 
ing;  this  is  easily  effected  with  the  solution  of  terchlo- 
ride  of  gold,  and  that  of  acid  bichloride  of  mercury,  as 
previously  recommended  in  the  intensifying  process  as 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


Ill 


applied  to  negatives.  After  which  the  plate  is  again 
carefully  washed  and  varnished  with  a  colorless  and 
transparent  varnish  prepared  as  follows : 

VARNISH  FOR  TRANSPARENT  POSITIVES. 

Copal  (tender)  1  ounce. 

Mastic  (in  tears)  -  -  -  80  grains. 

Venice  turpentine  -  -  -  50  minims. 

Alcohol  (95  per  cent.)  10  drachms,  (fluid 
measure.) 

Apply  the  varnish  to  the  cold,  but  dry  plate,  and  al¬ 
low  it  to  dry  spontaneously. 

TO  PREPARE  TRANSPARENT  POSITIVES  BY  CONTACT  PRINTING. 

This  process  requires  the  use  of  dry  plates,  and  is 
certainly  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  processes  in 
photography.  The  tannin  plate  will  suit  our  purpose 
very  well,  but  a  plate  prepared  according  to  one  of  the 
modified  Fothergill  processes  will  produce  a  positive 
better  than  can  be  obtained  by  the  tannin  process;  the 
most  beautiful  transparent  positive  is  prepared  by 
what  is  denominated  the  albumen  process,  which  is 
more  difficult  of  manipulation  than  the  preceding.  If 
the  dry  tannin  plate  be  used,  it  will  be  necessary  both 
in  the  development  and  in  the  intensifying  operation 
to  acidify  the  pyrogalhc  acid  with  either  citric  or  nitric 
acid  instead  of  acetic  acid,  which  latter  communicates 
to  the  picture  a  reddish  tone.  The  picture  may  be 
toned  afterward  with  terchloride  of  gold  and  the  acid 
bichloride  of  mercury  in  the  usual  way. 

The  negative  is  placed  first  in  the  ordinary  printing- 
frame,  the  film  being  upward;  upon  this  is  laid  the 
prepared  dry  plate,  the  collodion  film  being  down¬ 
ward;  that  is  the  two  films  are  in  contact.  The  frame 


112 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


is  now  closed,  laid  upon  a  small,  flat  board,  to  keep  out 
the  light,  and  is  then  carried  out  of  the  dark-room, 
where  it  is  turned  up  and  exposed  for  one  or  two 
seconds  to  the  diffused  light  of  day;  or  it  may  be  ex¬ 
posed  for  ten  or  more  seconds  to  the  light  issuing  from 
a  gas  jet  or  from  a  piece  of  burning  phosphorus  or 
magnesium.  The  plateholder  is  then  turned  over 
again  flat  upon  the  small  piece  of  board  and  carried 
back  into  the  dark-room,  where  it  is  developed  like 
any  other  tannin  plate. 

TO  PREPARE  DRY  PLATES  BY  GORDON’S  PROCESS. 

Any  good  bromo-iodized  collodion  is  suitable  in  this 
process;  and  the  plate  requires  no  previous  substratum 
of  albumen  or  other  material.  Besides  this,  the  plate 
may  be  sensitized  in  the  ordinary  bath  of  nitrate  of 
silver,  made  slightly  acid  with  nitric  acid.  All  these 
are  advantages  in  favor  of  this  process. 

After  the  plate  has  been  properly  excited  or  sensi¬ 
tized  in  the  silver  solution,  it  is  placed  in  a  dish  or 
basin  of  distilled  water,  where  it  remains  until  a  second 
plate  is  so  prepared  as  to  take  its  place,  when  it  is 
transferred  to  a  second  basin  of  distilled  water.  After 
this  it  is  washed  gently  at  the  tap  and  coated  with  the 
preservative  solution. 

Have  prepared  the  following  stock  solutions  : 

No.  1. — Albumen  Stock  Solution. 

■White  of  egg  (well  beaten)  -  1  ounce. 

Distilled  water  4  drachms. 

Liq.  ammonise  5  minims. 

No.  2. — Stock  Solution  of  Nitrate  of  Silver. 

Nitrate  of  silver  -  -  -  30  grains. 

Distilled  water  1  ounce. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


113 


From  these  solutions  you  prepare  another  every  time  a 
plate  is  ready  as  follows: 

Preservative  Solution  for  Present  Use. 

Of  the  prepared  albumen  -  4  drachms. 

Ammonia  5  minims. 

Nitrate  of  silver  solution  -  -  15  “ 

This  solution  is  prepared  as  follows :  Measure  out  in  a 
separate  vessel  the  five  minims  of  ammonia,  then  add 
the  nitrate  of  silver  solution;  this  mixture  is  finally 
added  to  the  half  ounce  of  albumen,  and,  after  the 
mixture  has  been  well  shaken,  the  mucilaginous-like 
material  is  poured  upon  the  plate  so  as  to  cover  it, 
moved  backward  and  forward  upon  the  plate,  and  then 
the  excess  is  poured  back  into  the  vial.  A  suffi¬ 
cient  quantity  will  be  left  with  which  to  coat  a  second 
plate;  or,  instead  of  this,  half  the  quantity  may  be 
prepared  at  a  time  for  each  stereoscopic  plate.  After 
the  plate  has  been  thus  treated,  it  is  carefully  and 
evenly  washed  with  one  pint  of  water  made  to  flow 
from  the  narrow  orifice  of  a  long  spout  like  that  on  an 
oil  can;  it  is  finally  swilled  with  distilled  water  and 
placed  away  in  a  perfect  light  tight  box  to  dry  spon¬ 
taneously. 

Exposure. 

The  plate  is  exposed  about  the  same  length  of  time 
as  that  required  for  a  tannin  plate  with  the  alkaline 
developer,  or  about  four  or  five  times  as  long  as  is  re¬ 
quired  for  the  wet  process. 

Development. 

Flush  the  plate  with  distilled  water  and  afterward 
with  a  solution  of  plain  pyrogalhc  acid.  Dissolve,  for 


114 


THE  PHOTOGKAPHER’s  GUIDE. 


instance,  ninety-six  grains  of  pyrogallic  acid  in  an 
ounce  of  alcohol,  and  afterward  measure  out  five  min¬ 
ims  (not  drops)  of  the  solution  and  mix  it  with  four 
drachms  of  water. 

Let  the  solution  flow  backward  and  forward  over 
the  plate  for  four  or  five  minutes  ;  at  the  expira¬ 
tion  of  this  time,  or  perhaps  even  before,  the  image 
will  be  complete  in  all  its  detail,  although  it  will  be 
nothing  more  than  a  phantom  image.  In  order  to  in¬ 
tensify  this  phantom  image,  you  now  pour  out  again 
five  minims  of  the  pyrogallic  acid  solution  to  half  an 
ounce  of  water,  to  which  are  added  a  couple  of  drops 
of  the  following  silver  solution  : 

Acid  Nitrate  of  Silver. 

Nitrate  of  silver  -  -  -  -  30  grains. 

Citric  acid  -  -  -  -  -  40  “ 

Distilled  water  1  ounce. 

The  image  now  soon  begins  to  show  more  vigor,  and 
gradually  becomes  more  intense.  Proceed  slowly  and 
patiently  until  the  picture  is  complete.  If  there  are 
any  signs  of  under-exposure,  use  the  smallest  quantity 
of  silver;  whereas,  when  the  plate  has  been  over-ex¬ 
posed,  a  larger  quantity  of  silver  becomes  quite  neces¬ 
sary.  With  plates  prepared  by  Gordon’s  method,  the 
final  tone  of  the  negative  depends,  as  is  the  case  in  the 
tannin  process,  on  the  acid  allied  with  the  pyrogallic 
acid,  thus  in  the  present  instance,  when  citro-nitrate 
of  silver  is  used,  the  color  of  the  negative  has  an  olive 
tinge,  whilst  with  aceto-nitrate  of  silver  it  has  a  choco¬ 
late  reddish  hue.  It  is  not  necessary  to  push  the  in¬ 
tensity  to  the  extent  required  in  a  wet  plate,  because 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


115 


of  the  non-actinic  color  of  the  negative  produced  by 
either  the  tannin  or  this  modified  Fothergill  process. 

If  the  operator  be  desirous  of  getting  a  vigorous 
final  tone  of  a  purple  black  color,  he  can  do  it  by  the 
application  of  the  toning  and  intensifying  process  with 
terchloride  of  gold  and  acid  bichloride  of  mercury. 

There  is  no  danger  of  the  film  slipping  off  the  plate 
by  this  process;  and  if  there  is  any  tendency  to  blis¬ 
ters,  these  can  be  obviated  by  adding  to  the  fixing  so¬ 
lution  a  small  quantity  of  alcohol.  It  is  preferable  to 
use  only  a  fresh  solution  of  hyposulphite  of  soda  in 
fixing  the  dry  plate  negative. 

TO  PREPARE  TRANSPARENT  STEREOGRAPHS. 

The  chemical  parts  of  this  operation  are  in  no  way 
changed  from  those  just  given  for  making  any  other 
transparent  positive;  but,  inasmuch  as  a  stereoscopic 
negative  produces  prints  which  are  laterally  inverted, 
the  right  picture  being  on  the  left  side  of  the  paper, 
whilst  the  left  picture  is  on  the  right  side,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  cut  the  stereoscopic  negative  in  two  and 
mutually  to  transpose  the  two  halves  and  to  mount 
them  on  a  separate  glass.  The  proper  plan  is  to  cut 
the  two  glass  pictures  down  to  the  required  size  which 
the  paper  prints  are  to  have,  and  then  to  mount  them 
with  a  little  transparent  cement  along  the  edges  to  the 
glass  support  beneath. 

As  soon  as  the  stereoscopic  negative  has  thus  been 
transformed,  we  may  place  it  in  the  printing-frame 
and  obtain  from  it  by  contact  printing  a  copy  in  which 
there  will  be  no  lateral  inversion  of  the  individual 
prints,  and  in  which  the  right  picture  is  on  the  right 
side  and  the  left  picture  on  the  left  side. 


116  THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 

There  is  another  method  of  preparing  a  stereoscopic 
negative  for  contact  printing;  it  is  a  very  interesting 
method,  and  consists  in  first  obtaining  a  transparent 
positive  from  the  negative  by  means  of  two  stereo¬ 
scopic  lenses  placed  side  by  side,  and  then  from  this 
positive  to  obtain  a  negative  by  means  of  a  single  or- 
thoscopic  lens. 

To  effect  the  right  conditions,  the  original  negative 
is  placed  wrong  side  up,  and  with  the  film  facing  the 
lenses,  in  the  copying  camera;  an  impression  is  then 
taken  on  a  sensitized  plate  in  the  other  bellows  part  of 
the  camera.  The  copy  is  a  transparent  positive,  which, 
when  finished,  is  placed  in  front  of  the  lenses,  the  film 
looking  toward  the  lenses ;  these  lenses  are  now  taken 
ont,  and  a  single  orthoscopic  or  globe  lens  is  substituted 
in  their  place.  A  sensitized  plate  being  placed  on  the 
opposite  side,  a  copy  is  taken  which  will  be  a  negative 
endowed  with  the  requisite  transformation  for  contact 
printing. 

But  by  camera  printing  a  transparent  stereoscopic 
positive  is  obtained  without  the  trouble  of  two  opera¬ 
tions.  All  that  is  required  is  to  copy  the  original  ne¬ 
gative  by  means  of  two  lenses  as  just  described,  the 
resulting  copy  is  a  transparent  stereoscopic  positive 
devoid  of  lateral  inversion  of  every  kind. 

By  any  one  of  the  three  methods  above  described, 
the  picture  is  on  the  front  of  the  glass,  and  on  this  ac¬ 
count  it  lequires  two  extra  glasses  when  mounted,  a 
thin  ground  glass  behind,  and  a  similarly  thin  trans¬ 
parent  glass  in  front.  By  such  a  method  there  is, 
therefore,  a  loss  of  material,  and  our  aim  naturally  is 
to  obtain  a  picture  free  from  all  inversion  when  seen 
on  the  back  of  the  glass  and  not  in  front. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


117 


To  effect  this,  that  is,  to  prepare  a  transparent  posi¬ 
tive  on  the  back  of  the  glass  there  are  several  methods, 
which  the  ingenious  operator  can  easily  find  out  him¬ 
self  ;  we  will  describe  only  two.  Take  the  original 
negative,  turn  it  wrong  side  up,  and  place  it  in  the 
shield  of  the  copying  camera,  the  film  being  outward; 
copy  this  negative  by  means  of  two  lenses,  the  result¬ 
ing  copy  will  be  a  transparent  positive  on  the  back 
of  the  glass  free  from  transposition,  obtained  by  di¬ 
rect  camera  printing.  A  second  method  consists  in 
first  getting  a  negative  so  transposed  as  to  allow  the 
requisite  prints  to  be  made  correctly  by  contact  print¬ 
ing.  This  negative  is  obtained  as  follows : 

Let  the  film  of  the  original  negative  look  outward 
and  take  a  copy  as  before  by  means  of  two  lenses; 
afterward  copy  the  positive  by  means  of  a  single  lens, 
the  film  looking  inward  toward  the  lens. 

More  extensive  information  on  this  subject  may  be 
obtained  by  consulting  the  author’s  treatise  denomin¬ 
ated  “  Dry  Plate  Photography.” 


CHAPTER  XII. 


TO  PREPARE  OPAL  OR  PORCELAIN  PICTURES. 

This  is  an  interesting  branch  of  photography,  be¬ 
cause  the  resulting  pictures  are  exceedingly  beautiful. 
Opal  or  porcelain  plates  are  translucent  and  of  a  milky 
color;  they  may  be  obtained  from  the  photographic 
dealers  of  any  size  required.  Those  which  are  not 
perfectly  flat,  are  used  for  camera  printing  ;  whilst 
those  which  are  quite  flat  originally,  or  ground  flat, 
are  used  chiefly  for  contact  printing.  Hence,  there  are 
two  methods  by  which  opal  pictures  may  be  prepared : 
by  the  wet,  and  by  the  dry  process. 

BY  THE  WET  PROCESS. 

Clean  the  plates  like  any  other  or  the  ordinary  glass 
plates,  and  then  coat  them  with  a  dilute  solution  of  al¬ 
bumen,  and  put  them  away  to  dry. 

The  negative,  which  is  suitable  for  such  like  opera¬ 
tions,  must  be  taken  specially  for  the  purpose  with  the 
dilute  collodion  and  by  the  method  already  described 
in  reference  to  copying  and  solar  enlargements.  Place 
the  negative  inverted  in  the  copying  camera,  the  film 
facing  the  lens.  A  sensitized  opal  plate  is  then  placed 
in  the  opposite  bellows  of  the  camera.  It  is  custom¬ 
ary  to  print  opal  pictures  of  the  vignette  shape;  this  is 
effected  by  a  vertical  frame  parallel  with  the  negative 
and  capable  of  sliding  between  the  lens  and  the  nega¬ 
tive.  This  parallel  frame  is  covered  with  an  opaque 
plate  of  thin  metal  or  block  cardboard,  in  the  middle 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


119 


of  which  there  is  an  elliptical  opening  designed  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  vignette.  Around  the  edge  of  the  elliptical 
opening  a  piece  of  tissue  is  gummed,  and  a  smaller  el¬ 
liptical  opening  is  cut  through  this  tissue  paper,  con¬ 
centric  with  the  larger.  The  edge  of  this  tissue  paper 
is  then  cut  with  a  very  sharp  knife  or  a  pair  of  scissors 
into  fine  arrow  like  projections  all  around.  Any  vari¬ 
ety,  shape  and  size  of  vignette  can  thus  be  prepared 
and  attached  to  the  moving  vertical  slide;  and  by  mov¬ 
ing  the  slide  nearer  to  the  negative  or  further  from  it, 
a  given  vignette  can  be  diminished  or  increased  in  size 
ad  libitum  within  certain  limits. 

The  copying  camera  is  placed  so  as  to  receive  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun,  or  the  bright,  white  light  from  a 
cloud  in  the  opposite  part  of  the  heavens  to  the  sun; 
in  this  position  the  sensitized  plate  is  exposed  for  fif¬ 
teen  seconds  or  more  according  to  the  intensity  of  the 
light  and  other  circumstances  connected  with  the 
lenses  and  negative.  The  opal  plate  is  then  taken  into 
the  dark-room  wThere  the  picture  is  developed. 

The  ordinary  iron  developer  is  used  for  this  purpose, 
taking  care,  however,  to  make  it  slightly  more  acid 
than  for  ordinary  operations;  thus,  take  half  an  ounce 
of  the  developer,  which  will  be  sufficient  for  a  common 
card-picture,  and  add  to  it  one  drop  of  nitric  acid. 
Shake  the  developer  and  pour  it  uniformly  and  quickly 
over  the  plate  so  as  to  cover  it  without  any  line  of 
stoppage.  Develop  until  all  detail  is  out,  and  then 
stop  immediately.  Wash  the  plate  carefully  and  fix 
with  a  fresh  solution  of  either  cyanide  of  potassium,  or 
hyposulphite  of  soda.  Finally,  wash  again  very  care¬ 
fully  and  thoroughly. 


120  THE  photographer’s  guide. 

Tlie  next  part  of  the  operation  consists  in  cleaning 
off  the  corners  of  the  plate  and  removing  all  stains. 
This  is  a  delicate  manipulation.  Prepare  tincture  of 
iodine  by  dissolving  a  drachm  of  iodine  in  one  ounce 
of  alcohol.  Place  before  you  a  wash-basin  full  of  water, 
and  in  a  convenient  place  a  beaker  glass  containing  so¬ 
lution  of  cyanide  of  potassium.  Now  pour  a  drop  of 
the  tincture  of  iodine  on  one  of  the  corners  which  is 
stained;  it  will  spread  very  rapidly  and,  at  the  same 
time,  convert  the  silver  stain  into  soluble  iodide  of 
silver;  the  moment  there  is  any  danger  of  the  iodine 
reaching  any  part  of  the  picture  itself,  dip  the  plate 
immediately  into  the  water  beneath  and  wash  off  all 
the  remaining  tincture  of  iodine.  Now  pour  some  of 
the  solution  of  cyanide  of  potassium  upon  the  same 
corner  where  the  stain  originally  existed;  the  part  will 
become  thoroughly  bleached;  if  not,  repeat  the  opera¬ 
tion  with  the  tincture  and  cyanide  until  the  stain  is 
removed.  Every  other  stain  is  treated  in  the  same 
manner.  If  the  picture  itself  is  stained,  there  is  no  al¬ 
ternative  but  to  make  a  new  picture,  because  you  can¬ 
not  remove  such  a  stain  without,  at  the  same  time, 
bleaching  some  of  the  fine  markings  of  the  picture 
itself. 

We  will  suppose  the  plate  has,  however,  been  com¬ 
pletely  cleaned  by  the  process  prescribed;  we  now  pro¬ 
ceed  a  step  further  and  tone  our  picture.  Flow  over 
the  plate  a  dilute  solution  of  terchloride  of  gold  until 
the  tone  is  uniformly  changed  all  over  the  plate;  then 
wash  the  plate.  If  it  is  intended  to  color  the  picture 
by  stippling  or  otherwise,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
proceed  any  further;  but  where  it  is  intended  not  to 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


121 


apply  any  color  whatever,  the  tone  of  the  picture  may 
be  considerably  improved  by  flowing  over  the  plate  the 
dilute  solution  of  bichloride  of  mercury,  consisting  of 
fifteen  minims  of  a  saturated  solution  of  bichloride  of 
mercury,  fifteen  minims  of  acetic  acid  and  four  drachms 
of  water.  The  intensity  of  the  picture  will  increase  very 
rapidly  to  a  certain  extent,  and  then  it  retrogrades;  you 
must  be  careful,  therefore,  to  stop  its  action  in  time;  in 
fact  the  picture  seldom  requires  more  than  just  to  be 
covered  with  the  solution  and  then  carefully  washed. 
After  this  operation  the  plate  is  thoroughly  washed 
and  afterward  dried.  If  the  plate  is  to  be  mounted  in 
a  case  with  a  glass  in  front  of  it,  it  will  not  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  apply  any  varnish;  but  if  a  varnish  is  to  be 
used,  it  must  be  of  a  very  fine  nature  and  nearly 
colorless. 

An  opal  picture  admits  of  being  stippled  so  as  to 
imitate  a  perfect  miniature  gem  of  art,  unsurpassed  by 
any  other  production  of  the  same  nature. 

Owing  to  the  innumerable  stains  which  almost  in¬ 
variably  are  seen  in  stern  contrast  with  the  white  por¬ 
celain,  operators  in  general  prefer  preparing  these  opal 
pictures  by  some  of  the  dry  processes;  and  of  these 
dry  processes  the  collodio-chloride  process  of  Dr.  Gr. 
Wharton  Simpson  is  by  far  the  most  expeditious. 

COLLODIO-CHLORIDE  PROCESS. 

In  this  process  the  collodion  itself  is  made  sensitive, 
and  consequently  requires  to  be  kept  in  a  dark  cup¬ 
board.  It  is  better,  also,  to  surround  the  bottle,  in 
which  it  is  contained,  with  some  non-actinic  material 
such  as  a  metallic  case  or  with  several  folds  of  yellow 
paper  or  cloth. 


122 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


Prepare  tlie  following  stock  solutions: 


Nitrate  of  silver 

No.  1. 

2  drachms. 

Distilled  water 

- 

-  2 

Chloride  of  calcium 

No.  2. 

-  64  grains. 

Alcohol  - 

- 

2  ounces. 

Citric  acid 

No.  3. 

-  64  grains. 

Alcohol  - 

- 

2  ounces. 

When  about  to  use  this  process,  prepare  the  follow¬ 
ing  solution  for  present  use : 

Collodio-Chloride. 

Plain  collodion  2  ounces. 

Nitrate  of  silver  solution,  No.  1,  30  min¬ 
ims;  Alcohol,  1  drachm,  previously  mixed. 

Chloride  of  calcium  solution,  No.  2,  1  drachm. 

Citric  acid  solution,  No.  3.  1  drachm. 

Shake  this  mixture  well  up  and  then  set  it  aside  to 
settle ;  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  it  will  be  ready  for  use. 
By  this  arrangement  small  quantities  of  the  collodio- 
chloride  can  be  prepared  quite  easily;  it  is,  therefore, 
much  better  to  prepare  only  just  sufficient  for  the  oc¬ 
casion. 

The  albumenized  plates  are  coated  with  this  emul¬ 
sive  collodion  as  with  any  other  collodion,  and  then 
reared  up  to  dry.  When  they  are  quite  dry,  they  may 
be  albumenized  in  the  usual  way  for  about  five  min¬ 
utes;  this  part  of  the  operation  is,  however,  not  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary;  it  is  optional. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


123 


After  this  operation  the  dry  collodio-plate  is  ready 
for  exposure.  Of  course  the  reader  must  understand 
that  for  this  process  we  make  use  only  of  fiat  plates, 
either  ground  or  unground,  because  in  the  printing 
operation  they  have  to  lie  in  close  apposition  with  the 
negative,  which  must,  also,  have  been  taken  on  flat 
plate  glass. 

There  are  several  printing-frames  made  specially  for 
this  sort  of  printing;  for  an  ordinary  printing-frame 
will  not  permit  you  to  examine  the  printing  as  it  ad¬ 
vances.  Shive  was  the  first  to  get  up  an  opal  printing- 
frame,  which,  with  all  the  accessories  that  have  since 
been  added,  is  the  most  complete.  Chapman’s  opal 
printing-frame,  as  also  Anthony’s  pneumatic  porcelain 
printing-frame,  is  exceedingly  ingenious  and  appropri¬ 
ate  for  the  purpose  in  view. 

The  negative  is  placed  in  the  printing-frame  first, 
and  upon  this  comes  the  sensitized  opal  plate,  the  two 
films,  of  course,  being  in  contact;  by  the  peculiarity  of 
construction  of  such  printing-frames,  the  opal  plate  can 
be  raised  from  the  negative,  when  occasion  requires  to 
examine  the  progress  of  printing,  and  can  again  be  re¬ 
placed  without  disturbing  the  relative  position  of  the 
negative  and  the  opal  plate.  The  print  is  precisely 
like  an  albumen  print;  it  is  produced  directly  by  the 
light  of  the  sun,  and  consequently  requires  no  develop¬ 
ment  after  it  leaves  the  frame.  A  slight  over-exposure 
is  necessary.  When  the  image  is  thoroughly  brought 
out  and  bronzing  is  just  commencing,  the  opal  plate  is 
taken  from  the  frame  and  washed  by  immersing  it  in 
rain  water  and  by  oscillating  it  so  as  to  remove  any 
free  nitrate  of  silver.  It  is  then  transferred  to  a  weak 


124 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


toning  bath,  where  it  remains  until  it  is  satisfactory. 
From  this  bath  it  is  removed  to  a  vessel  of  clean  water 
where  it  is  again  washed,  and  afterward  transferred  to 
the  fixing  solution  of  fresh  hyposulphite  containing  a 
little  alcohol,  which  renders  the  film  more  porous  and 
less  liable  to  blister.  Finally,  wash  the  plate  and  dry 
it.  It  is  now  ready  for  the  artist  to  be  stippled  or  col¬ 
ored  as  fancy,  fashion  or  taste  may  suggest. 

TO  PRINT  OPAL  PICTURES  BY  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  plate  is  exposed  either  in  the  camera  or  in  the 
printing-frame  as  usual,  but  for  a  very  short  time,  after 
which  the  picture  is  brought  out  by  development.  The 
developer  used  is  that  of  gallic  acid  and  acetate  of 
lead,  as  recommended  by  M.  Carey  Lea,  Esq. 


Gallic  acid  - 

- 

- 

6  grains. 

Acetate  of  lead  - 

- 

- 

-  3  “ 

Rain  water  - 

_ 

- 

-  40  ounces. 

The  precipitate  of  gallate  of  lead  is  dissolved  by  ad¬ 
ding  a  few  drops  of  glacial  acetic  acid.  The  opal  plate 
is  immersed  in  this  bath  until  the  proper  intensity  is 
acquired.  It  is  then  washed,  toned  and  fixed  as  before. 


CHAPTER  Xin. 


TO  PREPARE  FERROTYPES  OR  MELAINOTYPES  AND  AMBROTYPES. 

These  prints  are  positives  to  be  seen  by  reflected 
light,  and  are  in  reality  a  sort  of  incipient  negatives; 
negatives  not  yet  arrived  at  maturity.  In  these  prints 
the  silver  deposit,  by  reason  of  its  whiteness  projected 
on  a  black  background  forms  the  lights,  whilst  the 
shades  are  produced  by  the  background  seen  through 
the  film,  and,  in  the  case  of  ambrotypes,  through  the 
glass  medium  on  which  the  picture  is  made.  Fresh 
and  uncontaminated  silver  solutions  and  developers 
are  required  in  the  production  of  pure  and  rich  posi¬ 
tives  of  this  nature. 

Japanned  plates  or  paper  may  be  had  already  pre¬ 
pared  at  the  photographic  establishments  for  the  pre¬ 
paration  of  melainotypes,  ferrotypes,  etc.  ;  whilst  for 
ambrotypes  thin,  white  or  transparent  plate  glass  is 
used. 

FERROTYPE  OR  MELAINOTYPE. 

If  the  plate  has  not  been  used  before,  brush  off  the 
dust  with  a  camel’s  hair  pencil,  or  polish  it  with  a  piece 
of  fine  buckskin  if  necessary,  then  coat  it  with  rather 
a  thin  cadmium  collodion  and  sensitize  the  plate  in  the 
usual  manner. 

The  plate,  after  draining,  is  then  placed  in  the  print¬ 
ing-frame  and  a  piece  of  glass  plate  is  placed  on  the 
back  of  it  in  order  that  the  pressure  of  the  lid  or  door 


126 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


of  the  printing-frame  may  be  equal  all  over.  The  ex¬ 
posure  may  be  a  trifling  less  than  for  a  negative. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  MELAINOTYPE. 


None  of  the  organico-iron  developers  are  so  well 
adapted  for  the  production  of  a  rich  melainotype,  as 
the  ordinary  and  unsophisticated  protosulphate  of  iron 
developer. 

Developer  for  Melainotypes. 


Protosulphate  of  iron 
Acetic  acid 
Alcohol  - 
Rain  water 


2  drachms. 
2 

1 

8  ounces. 


To  produce  a  more  metallic  and  silvery  appearance, 
the  following  formula  has  been  much  recommended: 


Protosulphate  of  iron  2  drachms. 

Acetic  acid  -  -  -  2  “ 

Alcohol  -----  1  drachm. 

Nitrate  of  potassa  -  -  -  30  grains. 

Nitrate  of  silver  solution  (30  grs. 

to  the  ounce)  -  -  -  30  minims. 

Nitric  acid  -  -  -  6  “ 


Pour  the  developer  quickly  over  the  plate,  holding 
the  edge  of  the  vial  close  to  the  plate,  in  order  that 
the  momentum  produced  by  the  fall  of  the  fluid  may 
not  produce  a  white  speck  on  the  plate  beneath.  As 
soon  as  the  image  appears  in  full  detail  and  before  the 
intensifying  process  sets  in,  the  plate  must  be  washed. 
The  knack  is  to  find  out  exactly  the  right  time  when 
to  stop  the  development.  It  is  as  we  have  described 
it,  the  moment  between  the  two  operations  :  that  of 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


127 


developing  the  picture,  and  that  of  intensifying  the 
picture.  The  eye  soon  becomes  inured  to  the  change 
of  phenomena.  It  may  happen  that  the  detail  does 
not  all  appear  before  the  transition  from  one  subdi¬ 
vision  to  the  other  takes  place;  in  this  case  the  expo¬ 
sure  has  been  too  short;  on  the  other  hand,  the  devel¬ 
opment  is  so  rapid  as  not  to  permit  one  to  catch  the 
exact  moment  when  to  stop,  and  the  plate  becomes 
universally  veiled  by  the  silver  reduction  on  the  lights 
themselves;  in  this  case  the  exposure  was  altogether 
too  long.  You  have,  naturally,  to  study  the  capacity 
of  the  lens  with  a  given  light,  and  its  general  working 
powers  ;  you  can  then  easily  appromixate  to  the  right 
time  of  exposure  on  a  given  day.  The  requisites  of  a 
good  melainotype  are  perfect  transparency  of  the  glass 
in  the  deepest  shades,  complete  detail  in  every  part 
and  a  general  brightness  in  the  picture.  If  there  is 
any  veil  or  fogging  on  the  transparent  parts,  that  is, 
those  parts  which  are  to  form  the  deep  shadows,  the 
picture  is  a  failure,  and  you  will  have  to  take  it  over 
again. 

Supposing  you  have  hit  upon  the  right  exposure, 
and  have  developed  just  far  enough,  wash  the  print 
and  then  fix  it  with  the  ordinary  solution  of  cyanide  of 
potassium,  and  finally  wash  and  dry  the  plate. 

All  that  now  remains  is  to  color  it  according  to  taste 
and  then  varnish;  or,  which  is  still  better,  to  varnish 
it  first  and  color  it  afterward  with  very  fine  colors  in 
powder. 

It  is  customary  to  mount  the  melainotype  in  a  case, 
placing  a  mat  first  over  the  print  and  then  a  piece  of 
polished  plate  glass  ;  these  are  bound  close  together 


128 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


with  the  appropriate  preserver,  and  finally  fixed  or  in¬ 
serted  in  the  case. 

AMBROTYPES. 

An  ambrotype  is  a  positive  on  glass.  The  thinnest 
white,  that  is,  colorless  plate  glass,  as  far  as  is  com¬ 
patible  with  strength,  is  the  best  for  this  purpose.  The 
operations  in  every  respect  are  the  same  in  preparing 
an  ambrotype  as  those  performed  in  the  preparation 
of  a  melainotype.  When  the  print  or  picture  is  com¬ 
plete,  and  has  been  caryfully  washed,  it  is  dried.  It 
is  now  ready  for  mounting. 

It  was  customary,  at  an  early  date,  to  coat  the  back 
of  the  plate  with  a  thick  black  Japan,  or  varnish  com¬ 
posed  as  follows  : 

BLACK  VARNISH. 

Asphaltum  2  ounces. 

Canada  balsam  -  -  -  4  “ 

Oil  of  turpentine  -  -  -  50  4 4 

This  varnish  was  laid  on  so  as  to  form  a  uniform 
coating  and  then  dried.  It  is  much  easier,  however, 
to  cut  out  a  piece  of  black  velvet  of  the  size  of  the 
plate  and  place  it  behind  the  picture.  A  mat  is  placed 
over  the  picture,  and  a  plate  of  glass  is  placed  over  the 
mat;  whilst  another  plate  lies  behind  the  velvet  to 
keep  it  uniformly  in  apposition  with  the  back  of  the 
plate.  All  these  appendages  are  bound  firmly  to¬ 
gether  with  the  preserver,  and  then  inserted  in  the  ap¬ 
propriate  case. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE  SOLAR  CAMERA  AND  SOLAR  ENLARGEMENTS. 

The  solar  camera  is  in  reality  a  copying  camera, 
with  the  simple  addition  of  a  lens  or  other  attachment, 
by  means  of  which  the  sun  light  can  be  condensed 
upon  the  negative,  and  thus  made  more  powerful. 
There  are  two  distinct  kinds  of  solar  cameras;  one  is 
fixed  in  its  place,  and  the  sun,  by  means  of  a  reflector, 
is  made  to  shine  along  the  axis  in  whatever  part  of 
the  heavens  this  orb  may  happen  to  be.  The  other  is 
suspended  on  two  axes,  a  vertical  and  a  horizontal,  and 
is  thus  capable  of  moving  in  any  direction  whatever, 
and  consequently  of  following  the  sun’s  motion,  both 
in  altitude  and  azimuth.  All  solar  cameras  of  the 
first  class,  are  exact  imitations  of  the  well-known  solar 
microscope.  Woodward’s  solar  camera  was  the  first 
in  date,  and,  wonderful  enough,  it  is  protected  with  a 
patent !  although  the  special  function  of  the  solar 
microscope,  previous  to  this  patent  grant,  was  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  picture,  on  a  screen  behind  the  lens,  of  another 
picture  or  object  placed  in  the  conjugate  focus  in  front. 
Some  improvements,  in  the  way  of  directing  the  re¬ 
flector  horizontally  and  vertically,  have  since  been 
made  in  this  camera,  for  instance,  in  Gale’s  improved 
camera;  and  some  have  attached  to  them  an  arrange¬ 
ment  of  clockwork,  called  a  Heliostat,  which  regulates 
the  motion  of  the  reflector  according  to  the  motion  of 
the  sun,  and  thus  keeps  the  sun’s  rays  always  parallel 


130 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


with  the  axis  of  the  instrument.  This  attachment 
makes  this  sort  of  solar  camera,  in  one  sense  of  the 
word,  perfect.  Such  a  camera  is  fixed  in  a  window 
facing  the  South.  This  window  is  boarded  up,  so  that 
no  light  can  enter  the  room,  excepting  through  the 
lens.  This  room  becomes,  therefore,  the  dark  chamber, 
the  camera  obscura.  The  screen  which  receives  the 
image  is  movable  upon  the  floor  behind,  so  that  it  can 
be  brought  nearer  to  the  lens  or  well  drawn  from  it, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  picture  required.  This  is 
a  convenient  property  of  this  sort  of  camera,  an  ad¬ 
vantage  which  cameras  of  the  second  class  do  not 
possess  to  the  same  extent.  The  general  construction 
of  Woodward’s  solar  camera  and  of  all  its  congeners, 
is  as  follows :  First  comes  a  rectangular  reflector,  placed 
outside  the  window,  and  capable  of  moving  vertically 
and  horizontally,  and  of  thus  reflecting  the  sun’s  rays 
perpendicularly  upon  a  condensing  lens,  which  is  gen¬ 
erally  a  plano-convex  lens,  the  convex  surface  receiving 
the  rays.  The  negative  comes  next  in  order;  it  is  in¬ 
verted,  and  the  film  looks  toward  the  portrait  lens,  and 
is  capable  of  motion  to  and  from  this  lens  by  means  of 
a  horizontal  slide.  The  portrait  lens  or  distributing 
lens,  comes  next;  it  is  fixed  upon  a  frame  which  slides 
horizontally.  The  axis  of  this  instrument  is  a  hue 
which  passes  through  the  center  of  the  condensing 
lens,  of  the  picture  and  of  the  portrait  lens,  which 
latter  is  placed  at  such  a  distance  from  the  condensing 
lens  as  to  allow  the  cone  of  condensed  light  to  come 
to  a  focus  in  the  optical  center  of  the  combination,  or 
at  least  in  such  a  position  that  the  conjugate  cone  of 
light,  and  that  of  the  picture  itself,  shall  occupy  as 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHERS  GUIDE. 


131 


nearly  as  possible  the  same  position,  and  be  of  the 
same  size  on  the  screen.  To  produce  this  result  satis¬ 
factorily,  requires  a  certain  ratio  to  exist  between  the 
power  of  the  condensing  lens  and  that  of  the  dis¬ 
tributing  lens.  This  subject  has  not  met  with  the  study 
which  it  deserves;  and  to  the  want  of  accurate  know¬ 
ledge,  in  this  respect,  may  be  attributed  the  general 
failure  of  ordinary  operators.  If  the  cone  of  the  con¬ 
densed  light,  and  if  the  cone  of  the  picture  do  not 
coincide,  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  a  picture  totally 
free  from  what  is  denominated  the  ghost,  which  is  a 
circle  of  greater  actinic  force  in  the  center  than  on  the 
periphery  of  the  illuminated  disc,  unless  the  former 
cone  be  thrown  entirely  out  of  the  axis.  Another 
cause  that  tends  to  produce  this  ghost,  is  to  be  traced 
to  the  spherical  and  chromatic  aberration  of  the  con¬ 
densing  lens.  In  some  instruments  this  condenser  is 
partially  corrected  by  the  interposition  of  a  concave, 
or  a  concavo-convex  lens,  just  before  the  light  reaches 
the  negative.  This  second,  or  correcting  lens,  converts 
the  converging  rays  of  light  into  a  parallel  beam  of 
light,  which  simply  illuminates  the  negative  with  a 
highly  condensed  and  nearly  uniform  light;  and  then, 
of  course,  the  two  cases,  of  which  we  have  just  above 
spoken,  must  of  necessity  coincide.  By  such  an  ar¬ 
rangement,  the  best  work  may  be  expected.  Dr.  Yan 
Monckhoven’s  instruments  are  arranged  somewhat  in 
this  manner;  and  the  results  are  well  known,  and  are 
recommendations  of  the  cameras.  The  screen,  which 
corresponds  to  the  ground  glass  in  the  ordinal  y  camera, 
is  placed  vertically  behind  the  distributing  lens,  and  so 
accurately  that  its  center  coincides  with  the  axis  of  the 


132 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


instrument,  and  also  that  the  distances  of  either  edge, 
laterally  or  vertically  to  the  center  of  the  lens,  are  in 
pair  respectively  the  same. 

In  the  portable  camera,  of  which  Shive’s,  Eoettger’s 
and  Liebert’s  cameras  are  examples,  there  is  no  re¬ 
flector.  The  instrument  itself  is  tilted  by  the  mechan¬ 
ism  peculiar  to  each  instrument,  so  as  to  receive  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun.  This  is  an  advantage  over  the 
preceding  instrument;  because  there  is  always  a  con¬ 
siderable  loss  of  light  after  reflection.  Another  dis¬ 
advantage  of  the  Woodward,  etc.  camera,  arises  espe¬ 
cially  in  Winter,  when  the  sun’s  altitude  is  small,  and 
the  angle  of  incidence  and  of  reflection  is  very  large; 
the  light  is  thus  made  very  weak  by  such  reflection. 
In  the  portable  solar  camera  the  screen,  which  is  in¬ 
tended  to  hold  the  sensitized  sheet,  has,  but  compara¬ 
tively  speaking,  a  short  space  to  move  in;  and,  conse¬ 
quently,  with  this  instrument  it  is  very  difficult  to 
obtain  life-size  figures,  because  an  instrument  that 
would  do  such  work,  must,  of  necessity,  be  very  un¬ 
wieldy  from  its  size. 

To  work  with  the  solar  camera,  we  proceed  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

Place  the  negative  in  its  holder,  wrong  side  up,  and 
a  large  sheet  of  white  paper  on  the  focussing  screen. 
Turn  the  reflector  or  the  camera,  so  as  to  get  the  illu¬ 
minated  circle  of  light  on  the  white  paper;  move  the 
negative  until  the  picture  on  the  paper  is  sharp  all 
over;  by  moving  the  negative  nearer  to  the  lens,  after 
it  has  once  been  focussed,  the  screen  will  have  to  be 
shoved  further  off  from  the  lens  on  the  opposite  side, 
and  the  picture  becomes  thereby  enlarged;  whereas,  if 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


133 


the  negative  be  moved  back  from  the  lens,  the  screen 
will  have  to  be  brought  nearer,  which  will  make  the 
picture  smaller. 

As  soon  as  the  picture  has  been  accurately  focus¬ 
sed,  the  light  is  shut  off,  and  the  sensitized  sheet 
is  fastened  to  the  screen  by  tacks  or  otherwise  on  the 
place  just  occupied  by  the  white  focussing  paper.  All 
being  now  ready,  the  light  is  again  turned  on;  and  the 
operator  must  see  that  the  sun’s  rays  are  continually 
kept  so  as  to  illuminate  the  same  disc  to  the  end  of 
the  operation.  By  means  of  an  aperture  or  door  at 
the  end  of  the  portable  camera,  and  an  obturator  which 
subdues  the  cone  of  light,  you  can  from  time  to  time 
observe  the  progress  of  the  printing. 

There  are  two  modes  of  solar  printing,  the  one  direct 
and  the  other  by  continuation  or  development.  The 
former  is  the  ordinary  process  of  printing  with  albu¬ 
men  paper,  which  is  sensitized  in  *  the  usual  manner  in 
a  large  dish  of  nitrate  of  silver.  Glass,  photographic 
ware  or  porcelain  dishes  for  this  purpose  are  the  best; 
but  dishes  made  of  thin  wood,  well  dried  and  varnished 
with  two  or  three  coats  of  varnish,  will  answer  the  pur¬ 
pose  quite  as  well  and  are  far  from  being  as  expensive  as 
the  former.  Similar  dishes,  too,  may  be  used  for  ton¬ 
ing,  fixing  and  washing  the  prints  afterward. 

The  time  of  exposure,  naturally,  will  be  quite  vari¬ 
able,  depending,  as  it  does,  on  so  many  fortuitous  cir¬ 
cumstances;  but,  on  an  average,  a  good  print  may  be 
obtained  in  about  an  hour’s  exposure  to  bright  sun¬ 
light.  Print  until  the  shades  begin  to  be  slightly 
bronzed. 

Tone  and  fix  as  usual. 

6 


134 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


PRINTING  BY  DEVELOPMENT. 

There  are  several  methods  of  printing  by  develop¬ 
ment;  the  following  is  the  one  published  by  Libois  in 
the  Bulletin  Beige : 

Take  thin  Saxony  paper  and  float  it  for  a  minute  on 
the  following  salting  solution: 

Chloride  of  ammonium  -  4  drachms. 

Citric  acid  4 

Kain  water  -  -  -  -  25  ounces. 

The  citric  acid  is  first  dissolved  in  two  and  a  half 
ounces  of  water,  and  completely  neutralized  by  bicar¬ 
bonate  of  soda,  five  drachms  of  which  are  required  to 
neutralize  three  drachms  of  the  acid.  The  solution  of 
citrate  of  soda,  thus  formed,  is  added  to  the  solution 
of  the  chloride  of  ammonium.  The  solution  must  have 
a  slightly  acid  reaction,  which  is  attained  by  the  addi¬ 
tion  of  a  few  drops  of  citric  acid  in  solution.  A  small 
quantity  of  boiled  arrowroot  is  also  mixed  with  this 
bath,  which  is  said  to  improve  the  final  tones. 

The  paper  is  then  hung  up  to  dry,  after  which  it  is 
sensitized  by  floating  it  on  the  following  bath  for  half 
a  minute : 

Nitrate  of  silver  1  ounce. 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  18  ounces. 

This  bath  is  acidified  with  a  few  drops  of  a  solution 
of  citric  acid.  The  first  few  drops  produce  a  slight 
precipitate  of  citrate  of  silver,  which  is  immediately 
dissolved  by  the  succeeding  drops.  When  this  is  ef¬ 
fected,  the  bath  is  sufficiently  acid. 

This  paper,  when  dry,  is  ready  to  be  tacked  to  the 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


135 


focussing-screen.  You  expose  until  tlie  print  assumes 
a  lilac  hue,  which  will  be  a  few  minutes  at  most.  The 
image  in  this  time  will  be  just  visible.  The  paper  is 
now  taken  out,  and  immersed  in  the  following  develop¬ 
ing  bath  by  Carey  Lea : 

Gallic  acid  -----  6  grains. 

Acetate  of  lead  -  -  -  3  “ 

Bain  water  -  -  -  -  40  ounces. 

To  be  prepared  as  follows: 

Dissolve  a  drachm  of  gallic  acid  in  four  drachms  of 
alcohol,  and  a  drachm  of  acetate  of  lead  in  twelve 
ounces  and  a  half  of  water.  Take  a  drachm  of  the  al¬ 
cohol  solution  and  twelve  drachms  and  a  half  of  the 
solution  of  acetate;  add  these  to  one  hundred  ounces 
of  water,  and  then  drop  in  just  enough  glacial  acetic 
acid  to  redissolve  the  slight  precipitate  of  acetate  of 
lead  that  falls. 

A  number  of  prints  may  be  immersed  at  the  same 
time  in  this  bath.  The  development  requires  five  or 
six  minutes  in  the  dark-room,  and  is  stopped  the  mo¬ 
ment  the  prints  appear  perfect;  over-printing  is  not 
needed;  for  the  fixing  solution  seems  rather  to  im¬ 
prove  the  detail  than  to  destroy  it. 

Wash  the  prints  and  then  immerse  them  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  fixing  solution: 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  20  ounces. 

Hyposulphite  of  soda  -  6  “ 

In  this  bath  the  prints  remain  about  four  minutes, 
they  are  then  washed  thoroughly  in  a  running  stream 
of  water.  The  color  of  the  prints,  when  they  leave  the 


136 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE.  . 


water,  is  reddish,  but  it  assumes  a  beautiful  deep 
brown  on  drying. 

Naturally  the  print  may  be  toned  like  any  other 
silver  print.  In  this  case  the  print  after  development 
is  first  carefully  washed  and  then  immersed  in  the  or¬ 
dinary  gold  toning  solution,  and  afterward  treated  in 
other  respects  like  any  other  silver  print. 


CHAPTEE  XY. 


VIGNETTE  PKINTING. 

Pictuees  formerly  were  sometimes  surrounded  with 
a  border  or  a  garland  of  twisted  vines,  whence  was  de¬ 
rived  the  name  vignette  or  little  vine.  A.t  present  are 
comprehended  under  this  appellation  all  pictures  of  an 
oval  or  circular  form,  situated  in  the  center  of  the 
mount,  and  shading  gradually  off  by  a  stellar-like  gra¬ 
dation  into  blank  space.  Card-pictures  are  most  gener¬ 
ally  so  printed;  in  some  instances  the  pictures  are 
printed  as  usual  in  the  oval  form,  but  the  space  which 
surrounds  them  is  shaded.  It  is  our  intention  in  this 
chapter  to  describe  this  mode  of  printing. 

In  the  first  place  the  negative  itself  may  be  formed 
into  an  appropriate  condition  for  printing  vignette 
fashion;  but  in  this  case  you  have  to  be  very  careful  in 
focussing  to  place  the  sitter  always  and  accurately  in  the 
oval  of  the  ground  glass  which  he  is  to  occupy  in  the 
print;  then,  after  exposure,  the  plateholder  is  taken  into 
the  dark-room,  and  an  oval  piece  of  thick  leather,  with 
bevelled  edges,  is  placed  on  the  back  of  the  negative 
in  a  position  to  correspond  with  the  given  oval  of  the 
ground  glass.  India-rubber  ovals  might  be  made  on 
purpose,  the  under  side  being  formed  slightly  hollow; 
these,  when  pressed  down  into  contact  with  the  glass 
beneath,  will  remain,  by  reason  that  their  elasticity 
forms  a  vacuum  beneath,  firmly  adherent  to  the  glass. 
A  piece  of  tissue  paper,  somewhat  larger  than  the 


138 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


India-rubber  oval,  and  cut  with  star-like  indentations 
on  the  edge  all  around,  may  be  gummed  upon  tbe  back 
of  the  India-rubber  oval.  The  plateholder  is  now  taken 
again  into  the  light,  the  door  or  flap  is  opened,  and  the 
plate  is  exposed  for  a  few  seconds  to  the  direct  action 
of  the  light.  It  is  evident  that  the  part  beneath  the 
India-rubber  or  leather  will  be  protected  from  the  ac¬ 
tion  of  light;  the  tissue  paper,  projecting  beyond  the 
edges,  with  its  stellar  projections,  softens  the  abrupt¬ 
ness  of  separation  between  the  picture  and  the  sur¬ 
rounding  space.  Naturally,  the  part  protected  from 
the  light  can  be  made  to  assume  any  shape  whatever 
according  to  the  contour  of  the  India-rubber  discs. 
The  plateholder  is  now  carried  back  to  the  dark-room 
and  the  picture  is  developed.  All  the  parts  external 
to  the  oval  obturator  become  quite  opaque  by  the  de¬ 
velopment,  more  opaque  than  any  other  part  because 
of  the  direct  exposure  to  the  diffused  light;  and,  conse¬ 
quently,  in  the  print  the  paper  will  be  preserved  quite 
white,  as  it  ought  to  be.  "With  a  little  practice  this 
mode  of  vignetting  is  very  satisfactory;  and  the  nega¬ 
tives  being  complete  in  themselves,  you  have  no  further 
trouble  afterward  in  the  printing  operation. 

Why  is  it  not  more  generally  practiced  ? 

Because,  previous  to  the  publication  of  this  treatise, 
it  was  not  known  generally,  if  at  all. 

The  method  in  common  practice  is  as  follows : 

A  piece  of  tin  plate,  furnished  with  a  rectangular 
opening  in  the  center  larger  than  the  oval  vignette,  is 
placed  first  in  the  plateholder,  then  the  negative  and 
after  that  the  sensitized  paper.  Over  the  rectangular 
opening  there  is  another  tin  frame  with  an  oval  open- 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


139 


ing  which  slides,  or  is  so  adjustable  so  as  to  bring  this 
oval  opening  right  over  the  portrait.  A  rim  of  tin  is 
soldered  all  around  the  oval  opening  about  half  an 
inch  or  more  high,  tapering  off  and  forming  the  frus¬ 
tum  of  an  oval  cone  as  it  were.  The  inside  is  lined 
with  black  paper,  and  the  aperture  is  covered  over 
with  tissue  paper.  Along  the  edge  all  around  there  is 
a  concentric  stellated  ring  of  thicker  paper,  the  star- 
like  projections  of  which  point  to  the  center  of  the 
oval;  another  and  similar  ring,  narrower  than  the 
former,  is  glued  upon  this  upon  the  outer  edge;  and 
again  a  third  still  more  narrower  than  the  second.  In 
this  way  the  light  will  be  impeded  into  its  transition 
through  the  three  layers  of  paper  gradually  more  and 
more  to  the  edge  of  the  walls  of  the  frustum;  and  the 
conical  shape  of  this  attachment  furthermore  assists  in 
softening  the  gradation  of  shade  into  light.  The  gen¬ 
eral  principle  being  once  known,  the  operator,  if  he  is 
worthy  of  his  profession,  can  easily  modify  the  differ¬ 
ent  forms  of  vignetting  to  his  taste  and  fancy. 

Wooden  vignettes  are  easily  cut  out  of  a  piece  of 
soft  wood,  half  an  inch  or  more  thick,  taking  care  al¬ 
ways  to  bevel  the  edge  gradually  toward  the  negative, 
thus  making  the  opening  nearest  the  negative  larger 
than  that  on  which  the  tissue  paper  is  glued  or 
gummed. 

When  printing  with  a  vignette  of  this  construction 
it  is  necessary  to  print  with  diffused  light,  if  the  plate- 
holder  is  to  remain  quiescent  when  once  laid  down; 
but  if  the  light  is  direct  solar  light,  or  a  very  bright  re¬ 
flected  light  from  an  illuminated  cloud  or  surface,  the 
plateholder  must  be  gradually  turned  around  in  order 


140 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


to  eqnallize  the  illumination  and  thus  soften  the 
shadows. 

Another  mode  of  vignetting  consists  in  placing,  first 
in  the  plateholder,  a  so-called  glass  vignette.  This 
glass  vignette  is  of  the  same  size  as  the  plate  you  are 
using;  that  is,  you  may  procure  a  quarter-plate  vign¬ 
ette,  a  half-plate,  or  a  whole,  etc.,  plate  vignette.  These 
plates  are  made  of  glass  stained  of  an  orange-red  or 
yellow  color,  and  are  non-actinic;  but  the  central  part 
of  the  stain,  which  is  superficial,  is  ground  off  on  either 
side  of  the  plate  of  an  oval  shape,  and  the  plain  glass 
beneath  is  then  polished.  These  vignette  glasses  are 
very  convenient  and  highly  satisfactory  if  the  color 
happens  to  be  of  the  right  nature.  Two  or  three  of 
these  glasses  with  various  sized  openings  may  be  placed 
one  over  the  other,  the  smallest  opening  being  outer¬ 
most  or  most  remote  from  the  negative. 

TO  PRINT  A  DARK  BORDER. 

In  order  to  print  a  dark  border  around  a  light  oval 
vignette,  you  take  the  print  out  from  the  printing- 
frame  when  the  picture  is  sufficiently  advanced  to 
be  called  finished,  and  place  an  oval  obturator  of  the 
proper  size  over  the  portrait  and  a  portion  of  the 
white  surrounding  paper.  The  paper  is  then  exposed 
to  diffused  light  until  the  tone  is  suitable.  It  is  well 
to  turn  the  platform  which  holds  the  paper  gradually 
around  during  this  exposure,  otherwise  the  shade  will 
not  be  uniform. 

Landscapes  may  be  printed  of  the  desired  shape  by 
placing  the  proper  shaped  mat  in  front  of  the  negative. 

When  printing  'either  with  the  copying  camera,  or 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


141 


the  solar  camera,  it  is  immaterial  in  principle  whether 
the  vignette  is  placed  between  the  negative  and  the 
lens,  or  between  the  print  and  the  lens;  it  is  sometimes 
more  mechanically  advantageous  the  one  way  than  it 
is  the  other. 

The  toning,  fixing  and  washing  of  a  vignetted  print 
require  no  instruction;  they  naturally  are  the  same 
with  this  as  any  other  print. 


C.  ' 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  MAGIC  PRINT. 

The  magic  print  is  one  that  is  developed  by  the 
snperimposition  of  a  piece  of  moist  paper  upon  a  piece 
of  albumen  paper  which  apparently  contains  no  picture. 
The  operation  looks  like  a  feat  of  the  enchanter. 

The  magic  papers,  the  invisible  prints,  are  prepared 
as  follows: 

Print  on  albumen  paper  from  the  negative  in  the 
usual  way,  but  take  the  prints  out  whilst  they  are  still 
somewhat  weak,  but  still  complete  in  detail;  that  is, 
you  must  not  over  print  for  this  purpose. 

The  prints  are  then  taken  out,  washed  and  fixed  in 
hyposulphite  of  soda,  again  thoroughly  washed,  and 
then  submitted  to  a  bleaching  process. 

The  bleaching,  properly  whitening  solution,  consists 
of  bichloride. of  mercury: 

Bichloride  of  mercury  -  -  1  drachm. 

Water  -  -  -  -  -  4  ounces. 

Immerse  the  moist  prints  in  this  solution  and  keep 
them  there  until  the  pictures  disappear.  They  are 
now  again  thoroughly  washed,  dried  and  packed  away 
between  folds  of  clean  paper. 

These  magic  papers  are  developed  in  the  following 
manner : 

Dip  pieces  of  blotting  paper  in  a  solution  of  hypo¬ 
sulphite  of  soda,  and  whilst  still  moist  place  one  over 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


143 


each  albumen  magic  paper  and  put  a  weight  over  it  to 
keep  it  in  close  apposition.  The  print  will  gradually 
reappear.  When  completely  redeveloped  the  print  is 
thoroughly  washed  and  dried.  It  will  now  keep  for  an 
indefinite  time. 

The  solution  of  bichloride  of  mercury  does  not  de¬ 
stroy  the  image,  but  simply  combines  with  its  silver 
and  forms  a  double  salt  which  is  white.  This  experi¬ 
ment  is  quite  analogous  to  that  when  oxalic  acid  in  so¬ 
lution  is  placed  upon  writing  with  common  iron  ink; 
the  writing  disappears,  but  it  still  remains  in  the  paper, 
it  has  simply  become  white  writing,  instead  of  black. 

We  have  in  the  preceding  chapters  recommended 
the  use  of  bichloride  of  mercury  as  an  intensifies  but 
the  reader  must  be  careful  not  to  carry  the  intensifica¬ 
tion  so  far  as '  finally  to  whiten  the  print.  At  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  redevelopment  the  image  grows  more 
and  more  black,  then  it  gradually  from  this  point  be¬ 
comes  more  and  more  white  (not  transparent).  The 
operator  can  easily  see  when  to  stop. 


CHAPTEB  XVII. 


WHAT  TO  DO  WITH  THE  SILVER  AND  GOLD  RESIDUES. 

The  nitrate  of  silver  in  all  the  old  residues  of  the 
sensitizing  baths  both  for  paper  and  for  plates,  is  re¬ 
duced  to  the  state  of  chloride  of  silver  by  the  addition 
of  a  solution. 

The  chloride  is  a  white  powder  and  soon  settles  to 
the  bottom  of  the  vessel;  the  supernatant  liquid  is  then 
poured  into  another  vessel,  and  again  solution  of  salt 
is  added  to  it;  if  no  further  precipitate  of  chloride 
of  silver  is  produced,  this  liquid  is  thrown  away.  On 
the  contrary,  if  any  chloride  is  still  produced,  add  so¬ 
lution  of  salt  until  the  reduction  is  complete ;  decant 
as  before,  and  add  the  residue  to  the  other.  Wash  the 
white  precipitate  in  several  changes  of  water,  allowing 
the  silver  salt  to  settle  each  time  and  then  decanting 
the  clear  portions. 

This  white  chloride  of  silver  may  easily  be  reduced 
to  pure  silver  without  the  aid  of  fire.  Keep  the  salt 
under  water  in  the  dark-room  until  you  have  enough 
to  operate  upon,  and  time  to  devote  to  the  operation. 
The  following  is  the  mode  of  reduction : 

Take  a  bar  of  clean  zinc  as  heavy  as  the  quantity  of 
chloride  to  be  reduced,  and  solder  to  one  end  of  it  a 
silver  wire;  then  cover  the  zinc  completely  with  fine 
gauze  or  muslin  and  dip  it  in  clean  water.  Now  im¬ 
merse  the  zinc,  so  covered,  in  the  moist  chloride  of 
silver,  and  bend  over  the  other  end  of  the  silver  wire 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


145 


so  as  to  come  in  contact  with  the  chloride  of  silver  at 
a  short  distance  from  the  remote  end  of  the  zinc.  The 
operation  is  best  conducted  in  the  dark-room.  The 
moment  the  connection  is  made  with  the  silver  wire 
and  the  chloride,  an  electric  current  sets  in  and  decom¬ 
poses  the  chloride  of  silver  into  pure  silver,  which 
manifests  itself  first  at  the  loose  end  of  the  silver  wire. 
The  chlorine  which  is  set  free  hastens  through  the 
muslin  and  combines  with  the  zinc,  forming  chloride 
of  zinc,  a  very  soluble  salt  which  remains  in  solution. 
The  operation  may  continue  until  all  the  white  chloride 
has  changed  color  and  become  silver  gray.  The  bar 
of  zinc  is  now  taken  out  and  washed  to  remove  any  ad¬ 
hering  silver;  it  is  much  lighter  than  it  was  before  the 
operation.  Dilute  sulphuric  acid  is  added  to  the  silver 
powder  in  order  to  dissolve  any  particles  of  zinc ;  after 
settling  a  number  of  hours  the  supernatant  liquid  is 
poured  away,  and  the  residue  is  well  washed  in  several 
changes  of  water.  This  residue  is  pure  silver  contain¬ 
ing  still,  probably,  some  undecomposed  chloride  of 
silver,  which  is  no  injury  to  it.  The  residue  is  finally 
mixed  with  nitric  acid  containing  an  equal  volume  of 
water;  it  is  soon  dissolved.  If  any  chloride  was  in  the 
silver  powder,  it  will  be  found  now  at  the  bottom  of 
the  vessel  undissolved,  and  can  easily  be  separated  by 
decantation.  This  solution  is  then  evaporated  to  dry¬ 
ness  on  a  water  bath,  and  the  residue  is  again  dis¬ 
solved  in  a  small  quantity  of  hot  water  and  put  aside 
to  crystallize.  The  mother  liquor,  or  that  part  which 
cannot  be  made  to  crystallize,  may  be  used  for  the  sen¬ 
sitizing  bath  for  paper,  after  it  has  once  more  evapor- 
ated  to  dryness. 


146 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


The  undissolved  portion  of  chloride  of  silver,  if  any 
there  were,  may  be  added  to  the  next  batch  and  treated 
with  it  as  before  directed. 

TO  REDUCE  THE  CHLORIDE  AND  OXIDE  OF  SILVER  BY  FIRE. 

The  method  we  have  just  described  is  a  very  reliable 
one;  but  still,  if  you  have  the  convenience,  you  may 
reduce  the  residues  to  pure  silver  by  fire;  and  the  ad¬ 
vantage  here  is  that  different  residues,  as  for  instance, 
the  chloride  and  the  oxide,  etc.,  may  be  mixed  to¬ 
gether  and  reduced  at  the  same  time.  The  paper 
scraps,  as  we  have  already  told  you,  are  burnt  in  a 
clean  stove;  by  this  act  the  silver  compound  is  reduced 
to  a  mixture  of  silver  and  oxide  of  silver  which  will 
form  the  ashes.  These  ashes  and  the  chloride  obtained 
from  the  old  baths,  and  the  powder  from  the  develop¬ 
ing  solutions,  are  all  first  thoroughly  dried  and  then 
intimately  mixed  with  twice  their  weight  of  carbonate 
of  soda  and  chalk.  The  mixture  is  put  into  a  crucible 
which  is  heated  afterward  in  a  furnace  to  a  very  high 
temperature,  at  which  it  is  maintained  until  the  silver 
salts  are  thoroughly  reduced.  The  mass  is  kept  well 
stirred  up  with  an  iron  rod  from  time  to  time,  and  at 
the  end  the  temperature  is  raised  to  a  white  heat  and 
then  the  crucible  is  allowed  to  cool  gradually.  The 
silver  will  be  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel;  or, 
whilst  the  crucible  is  still  at  its  highest  temperature,  it 
is  taken  out  of  the  fire,  and  its  contents  are  emptied 
upon  a  plate  or  dish  of  iron.  The  silver  may  be  sep¬ 
arated  from  the  slag  afterward  by  means  of  a  hammer 
and  a  pair  of  pincers.  You  will  most  likely  find,  also, 
a  number  of  silver  pellets  in  the  mass,  which  you  can 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


147 


pick  out  witli  a  pair  of  pliers.  The  silver  is  next  care¬ 
fully  washed  in  hot  water,  and  finally  dissolved  in 
nitric  acid  as  before  in  order  to  make  nitrate  of  silver. 

TO  REDUCE  THE  GOLD  RESIDUES. 

Gold  is  obtained  from  old  toning  baths.  The 
method  has  already  been  described  of  precipitating 
the  gold  by  means  of  the  protosulphate  of  iron,  and 
its  separation  from  the  silver  by  means  of  nitric  acid. 
The  gold  powder  thus  obtained  may  be  melted  in  a 
clean  crucible  into  a  lump  of  gold  at  a  high  temper¬ 
ature.  But  this  would  be  altogether  a  loss  of  labor 
unless  you  want  to  get  the  value  of  the  gold.  As  long 
as  you  wish '  merely  to  convert  the  gold  powder  into 
chloride,  the  powder  is  just  as  good,  even  better,  than 
gold  in  the  lump,  because  it  is  more  easily  dissolved  in 
the  mixed  acids  in  this  form. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 


LANDSCAPE  PHOTOGRAPHY. 

Negatives  of  landscapes  are  best  taken  in  the  Spring 
or  Fall  of  the  year;  in  tbe  Summer  season,  during  the 
extreme  heat,  the  atmosphere  is  filled  with  vapor, 
which  obscures  the  view  with  haze;  whilst  in  Winter 
nature  has  thrown  off  her  robes  of  beauty  and  exhibits 
herself  in  a  state  of  dormancy.  Still  photographs  can 
be  taken  both  in  Summer  and  Winter;  and  Winter 
scenery  of  icebergs  and  waterfalls  is  sometimes  very 
grand. 

There  are  two  processes  for  the  field,  the  Wet  and 
the  Dry  Process.  Practical  operators  will  at  all  times 
prefer  the  process  with  which  they  are  daily  familiar; 
and  we  would  advise  them  by  all  means  to  keep  to  this 
process;  they  will  only  lose  their  time  and  their  pati¬ 
ence  if  they  meddle  with  dry  plates,  however  much  we 
may  personally  approve  of  them  ourselves.  We  have 
seen  already  sufficient  of  the  practice  of  dry  plate  pho¬ 
tography  in  the  hands  of  ordinary  operators,  to  sym¬ 
pathize  with  their  failures  and  to  condemn  the  prac¬ 
tice.  But  whilst  we  thus  warn  practical  photographers 
against  dabbling  in  tannin,  collodio-albumen  and  collo- 
dio-bromide,  we  recommend  these  forbidden  practices 
to  the  amateur,  who  can  bestow  all  his  energies  upon 
them  and  is  not  fettered  with  the  fixed  habits  of  room- 
work  and  the  wet  process. 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER’S  GUIDE. 


149 


The  great  trouble  in  landscape  photography  is  the 
weight  of  materials  to  be  carried  into  the  field,  and  the 
construction  of  a  portable  dark  tent.  All  the  para¬ 
phernalia  required  in  the  field  for  the  wet  process  may 
now,  however,  be  packed  into  a  small  compass  and  are 
easily  transported  on  a  pair  of  light  wheels.  We  have 
tried  all  sorts  of  tents,  and  possess  four  or  five  kinds. 
Our  tent  for  stereoscopic  purposes  is  only  two  feet 
long,  one  foot  wide  and  one  foot  high  ;  and  we  can 
operate  in  it  as  easily  and  reliably  as  in  our  large  lab¬ 
oratory,  performing  all  the  operations  on  the  plate  un¬ 
til  it  is  ready  for  varnishing. 

Our  tent  for  taking  views,  ten  by  twelve  inches  in 
size,  is  at  the  same  time .  a  camera.  It  folds  together 
into  a  small  compass,  and  can  be  mounted  in  five  min¬ 
utes  when  once  on  the  ground. 

We  have  also  a  Carbutt  box  and  tent  for  field-pho¬ 
tography,  which  we  should  like  exceedingly,  if  we  were 
not  wedded  to  our  own  constructions  which,  to  us,  ap¬ 
pear  to  work  with  more  satisfaction. 

With  tents  like  these  it  becomes  a  real  pleasure  to 
work  in  glens,  among  mountains  and  waterfalls;  and 
we  believe  that  most  of  the  photographic  gems  that  we 
receive  from  Europe,  and  those  of  Carbutt,  Watkins 
and  others,  the  Heliographic  pioneers  of  our  own 
country,  have  been  produced  by  the  wet  process;  and 
it  is  well  known  that  very  few  pictures,  taken  by  the 
dry  process,  were  to  be  seen  among  the  artistic  pho¬ 
tographic  productions  at  the  great  exhibitions  in 
Europe. 

All  these  facts  seem  to  prove  that  practical  photogra¬ 
phers  are  one-sided  in  their  views,  and  thus  give  pre- 


150 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER^  GUIDE. 


ference  to  the  wet  process;  this  will  no  doubt  remain 
so,  until — until  dry  plates  are  not  only  as  reliable  as 
wet  plates,  but  as  easily  prepared  by  the  ordinary 
operator,  and  with  the  same  collodion  and  silver 
bath. 


' 


-V 


An 


v 


OWWL 


S(u_c_v*£L 

36  ^ 


